Orangutan

Welcome to the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra.

When explorers first came here,

they found a lot of surprises in the forest.

Crawly surprises.

Leafy surprises.

Colorful, pointy-nosed surp... Wow! That is surprising.

There were new and astonishing things everywhere.

But high above them, like, really high,

was the most surprising and mysterious thing of all.

Creatures they could only hear and occasionally glimpse.

They asked the locals,

who said the treetops were home to "forest people."

Orang Hutan in their language.

Secretive loners who hid themselves away to avoid being put to work.

They were right that close relatives of ours live up here,

but wrong about everything else.

These treetops are full of big characters who love to "hang out" and socialize.

Mind your manners, buddy.

This is the story of a young female called Indah,

who sets out to explore this busy forest for herself.

Indah is nine,

a teenager in orangutan years.

And unlike the legends, she's a very hard worker.

She and her mom, Diann, and her little brother, Bimo,

are searching hard for anything they can eat.

They like fruit the best,

but when there's no fruit around,

spiky rattan plants will just have to do.

Two-year-old Bimo will give it a shot.

The spiky stuff isn't as nice as mom's milk,

but he needs to learn what's safe to eat.

Indah hasn't had milk for quite a while,

but she stayed close to mom for nearly ten years

to learn the ways of the forest...

and, you know, for the comfort and security of family life.

That's just normal for orangutans, who have the longest childhoods in nature.

But Indah's learned almost all she can.

Oh!

She's fine, she's fine.

She'll make mistakes along the way...

but it's better to slip up while mom's around.

Their family unit is still strong,

but for Indah, everything started to change

as soon as her little brother was born.

For Indah, nothing was the same after Bimo.

Sure, he was adorable beyond words,

but, suddenly, Bimo seemed to get all the attention...

and all Indah could do was watch.

Orangutans are pretty helpless when they're born.

And that meant mom had to carry little Bimo everywhere...

while he just clung to her fur and tried not to fall.

Why is he so frustratingly cute?

But taking care of a newborn around here is so difficult that,

from now on, Diann would give Bimo most of her time.

Being number two was something that Indah was gonna have to get used to.

Like all older siblings,

Indah has grown to love Bimo.

Now that he's old enough to let go of mom for a while

and start to play, he's a lot more fun.

Diann pulls Bimo back if he strays into trouble,

and prepares him for his journey through life,

which, as a male, will be very different from Indah's.

Fun times...

but not everyone in the neighborhood wants to play nice.

As the highest-ranking female around here,

Ruby and her son, Rafi, are the true jungle VIPs,

entitled to the first pick of everything...

while Diann and her family just get scraps.

Only a few trees have fruit remaining,

so Ruby can hog them all.

She and her son are like royalty.

Even little Rafi has the right to fruit before Diann.

It's always been this way.

It's enough to make a hard forest even harder for Indah.

Once this fruit is gone,

it's anyone's guess when more will arrive...

and when she and her family will finally get a decent meal.

Knowing what you're allowed to eat is a learning process.

And so is figuring out how to reach it.

Unlike most tropical forests, this one doesn't have a continuous canopy.

The trees are spaced far apart without branches or vines connecting them.

And that makes travelling between them a bit of an obstacle course.

You could climb down and walk across the forest floor...

but, yeah, I don't think that's such a good idea.

Fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers are left in the wild...

but it only takes one to eat you.

Maybe it wasn't the fear of being put to work

that kept the orangutans in the treetops.

Travelling over land works fine for some...

but the best way to get between trees here is to fly...

or some version of it,

like these Thomas's leaf monkeys.

Gibbons swing themselves across gaps with their long, strong arms.

Oh, very impressive.

And then things get super weird.

What's this guy gonna do?

Whoa.

These are the only forests in the world where the snakes can glide.

And I, for one,

don't wanna be standing underneath that thing when it lands.

Fortunately, these guys are much more interested

in hunting Draco lizards than narrators.

But guess what?

They can glide, too...

and can travel even further.

Just gotta stick the landing.

Ah! And it's an 8.7.

So, a lot of cool moves out there...

but for orangutans, it's a little tougher.

Not only are they big and heavy...

but the highest branches are...

unreliable.

Whatever your size...

you need to be honest about your weight.

Orangutans fall a lot harder than bees...

so treetop travel needs to be done right.

And it isn't quick to learn.

There's the pole vault.

The controlled swing.

Whatever that was.

And the bridge.

A favorite with moms for transporting infants.

Those who master the art of treetop travel...

can take more direct routes...

saving time and energy.

Although Bimo could be a bit more cooperative.

So where's Indah's dad in all this?

Bintang.

The 200-pound dominant male in this area.

He has a different way to save energy.

His long calls travel miles through the forest, so he doesn't have to.

They warn off rival males and attract adoring females.

Keep it up, buddy.

She's definitely into it.

His dish-shaped face may help direct these calls,

but, more importantly,

it tells other males that he's the king of this area.

And if that didn't make it clear enough,

he can also spread his macho message

by effortlessly pushing over trees.

Eh, almost effortlessly.

- -Boom!

Letting the rest of the forest know he's no pushover.

Bintang's collateral damage also helps the sun bear.

- -This guy? He could use a little help.

He can climb trees, but prefers his food delivered.

His thick skin protects him from the stings of angry bees

as he searches for their grubs or even their honey.

He seems to have given Bintang an idea.

Problem is, these aren't bees.

- -They're wasps.

And wasps don't make honey.

But, hey, they taste okay.

Little spicy, but worth a closer look.

Yup, definitely no honey.

And quite a bit of pain.

Some of it self-inflicted.

Bintang may be the boss...

but he wouldn't know a bad idea if it hit him in the face.

Did you learn nothing from your mother, Bintang?

With the fruit gone,

orangutans are spread far and wide searching for other food.

And Indah faces a big decision.

She's ready to leave home.

But with food so scarce, it's the worst possible time to go.

If she doesn't go now,

any food the family finds will have to be shared.

And her mom is already sharing with Bimo.

If Indah does go,

she'll need to trust herself to find food on her own.

In the end, she makes the decision to leave.

She won't go far.

Just across the valley.

But it's an area her mother has never taken her.

About half a mile away, Indah's found a place of her own.

But living alone is a big step.

Life at her mother's side is all she's ever known.

Diann has prepared her well, but that was training...

and the danger now is very real.

Now that she's chosen her spot, she needs to get to know her new home

and start putting all that training into practice.

And for the first time in her life...

no one is here to help.