New Mini-Series

By uncovering new footage and reworking Orangutan Jungle School, we are excited to share this mini-series featuring remarkable stories from our rehabilitation centre, where orphaned orangutans are nurtured by our human surrogate mothers and taught the survival skills they need to one day survive in the wild.

Created in collaboration with Love Nature in Canada and NHNZ, the three-part series premieres on Saturday, August 20. The mini-series features more awe-inspiring footage from Orangutan Jungle School and the adorable infants, playful youngsters, and mischievous teens who navigate the school curriculum with the goal of one day roaming free.

A Wild Education explores how the curriculum works, as each student is graded throughout their rehabilitation journey. Lean on Me investigates how making friends can be the difference between success and failure, while Growing Pains introduces new perspectives on the young apes’ emotional development, as each individual navigates the stages of growing up, just like human children. Learn more about each episode below.

A Wild Education explores how the curriculum works through the eyes of a brand-new arrival at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Little does this baby know what her future will hold as she’s enrolled in nursery school and she takes the first steps towards mastering a curriculum that includes climbing, nest building, and foraging. Tiny Topan’s journey is juxtaposed with the story of 16-year-old male Kasper who faces graduation as he is released into the wild.

Lean on Me investigates how making friends can be the difference between success and failure. As three recent arrivals attend their first day of class, older students explore the complex and navigate the often complex relationships they form during their schooling. From the ‘bromance’ between young males Valentino, Yutris, and Madara, to fan-favourite Big Boy Beni being the target of a bully, these stories illustrate how the relationships these orphans form are fundamental in their journey to becoming orangutans.

Growing Pains introduces new perspectives on the young apes’ emotional development, as they navigate the stages of growing up. The orangutan students must master all survival skills while on their journey through the curriculum, and that’s on top of the awkwardness of puberty. Dilla’s future changes unexpectedly when she falls pregnant, jeopardising the progress she had made. Meanwhile, Clara and her daughter Clarita face the ultimate transition, a release into the wild. Big Boy Beni struggles with his own ‘growing pains’ as he’s put on an urgent diet.