Readers: John Hiner is on vacation. In his place this week, we are offering a touching guest column from Cole Waterman, a reporter at The Bay City Times. We hope you enjoy getting to know him – and his unusual, close friend.
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“What made you wanna buy a gorilla?” my boss, Bob Johnson, asked me with equal parts judgment and bafflement.
I rolled my eyes, as I’d corrected him on this issue numerous times over the years.
“I’ve told you, he’s an orangutan and I didn’t buy him; I just sponsor him at his sanctuary.”
Bob often tries getting my goat on this, purposefully confusing apes and monkeys, just to get me fired up to correct him.
And what revived this topic as I sat at my desk one recent morning? Well, I was about to receive a special FaceTime call from “my” orangutan, Linus, from his sanctuary in Florida.
There is nothing like coming eye to eye with an orangutan. Even when that eye-contact is made via cellphones separated by some 1,200 miles. Not to anthropomorphize, but once you meet their gaze, you recognize an awareness, depth, and wisdom that is simply astounding. There’s a reason “orangutan” means “forest person” in the Malay language.
Back in 2016, I symbolically adopted the massive, ginger-haired orangutan who lives at the Center for Great Apes sanctuary in Wauchula, Fla., along with 26 other orangutans and 39 chimpanzees.
Founded in 1993 by Patti Ragan, the nonprofit facility comprises one-and-a-half miles of aerial trailways for the apes to traverse and explore, large outdoor habitats with vine-like firehouses for swinging, and night houses. The annual cost of caring for each ape is about $30,000, with symbolic adoptions going for $300.
All the chimp and orangutan residents were rescued from laboratories, the entertainment industry or private ownership. The apes are not able to be released into the wild and they are not bred, though a birth-control failure did lead to the surprise birth of a baby orangutan in 2020.
Remember Bubbles, Michael Jackson’s chimp? He’s lived there since March 2005 and yes, the King of Pop’s estate has continued to support his annual care costs. Another famous resident, Sandra the orangutan, arrived there after an Argentinian judge in 2015 made an historic ruling in granting her “non-human personhood.”
Each year since 2016, I’ve renewed my sponsorship of Linus, which has garnered curiosity from my friends and coworkers.
Suffice to say, I’ve been fascinated with great apes, specifically orangutans, since childhood. As apes are our closest genetic relatives — humans are classified in the Hominidae family along with chimps, orangutans, gorillas, and bonobos — they’re inherently compelling. Their intelligence, personalities, cultures … none of it ever ceases to amaze me.
Why’d I chose to sponsor Linus, specifically? It was those haunting, sympathetic eyes, peeking from under his long bangs and between his large cheekpads, or flanges. Born in 1990, he arrived at the center in 2006 after having been confined to a small cage for years by a private owner. It took his new caregivers months to groom him but, through it all, he remained patient and gentle.
There was also the adorable fact that Linus is inseparable from his blanket, much like the “Peanuts” character with whom he shares a name.
So this week, staff at the Center granted me a 15-minute FaceTime call with Linus, Caregiver Assistant Darlene Winslet, and Donor Programs Coordinator Lauren Burditt.
“To be able to sit here with this amazing ape, it blows my mind every time,” said Winslet, who has been caring for Linus for five years.
As Burditt and Winslet answered my questions, Linus sat in the recently built “Linus’ Lounge,” blanket in his hands.
What does he eat? Mangos and pineapples are staples, dried fruit is a treat, and he loves a good juice. What about enrichment, activities to stimulate him? Linus is fascinated with textures and sensory materials, so magazines and children’s board books are particular favorites, as he loves flipping through their pages and studying images upon them.
And for companionship? While he’s shy and orangutans in general are solitary — unique among us great apes — he is often with a female orangutan named Geri.
The best, most surprising moment, came when Linus began issuing a rumble or “long call.” Even Winslet and Burditt stopped at this, saying it’s the first time he’s done so in a private FaceTime call. It was about this time Burditt brought her phone close to Linus’ face for him to see me.
I think it unnerved my coworkers, as they’re not used to seeing me smile so genuinely without any trace of irony.
This was not the first time Linus and I encountered each other. Though the sanctuary is not open to the public, sponsors are invited to an annual open house, which I attended in 2019. When I walked in, Linus was the first ape I saw, sitting in a trailway and flipping through a board book.
Before I left, I bought a painting made by Linus. I passed by him and he looked disinterested until I held his painting aloft. At that, he began giving his distinctive long call.
When he saw me on Burditt’s cellphone, did he recognize me as an appreciator of his art? Honestly, I doubt it. But it’s a nice idea to consider, with enough room for me to cling to the notion he did.
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