Mammals
Birds
Amphibians
Reptiles
Swinging success for Durrell’s Orangutans
Durrell’s resident orangutans have been delighted by some renovations to their enclosure. A team of employees from Standard Bank spent a week building new equipment and maintaining the existing structures.
It’s the fourth year that Standard Bank has helped the global wildlife charity. Chief Executive Officer, Will Thorp joined 45 of his staff in creating eight new netted platforms for the apes to enjoy.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Deputy Head of Mammals, Gordon Hunt, said “The orangs were very inquisitive, wanting to know who was in their enclosure and what they were doing. We are very grateful to the staff who volunteered their time to do this and for Standard Bank for supplying funding for the materials. This is not only valuable work which we simply don’t have the resources for, but as you can see from the video we took, the animals themselves thoroughly enjoyed having some new equipment in the enclosure to investigate.’
Orangutans share 97.6% of their DNA with humans. The Sumatran orangutan is critically endangered, a victim of the heavy de-forestation programme in their native land.
Will Thorp, CEO, Standard Bank, Jersey said it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, ‘Knowing that we’re helping improve the living conditions of these magnificent animals and so indirectly help in their preservation, was a great incentive for us all. It was also a delight to be so close to them and to see how interested they were in what we were doing. However, watching the video footage that Durrell took of their reactions to the new equipment has really been the icing on the cake.’
Watch the sumatran orangutans trying out their new canopies.
It’s the fourth year that Standard Bank has helped the global wildlife charity. Chief Executive Officer, Will Thorp joined 45 of his staff in creating eight new netted platforms for the apes to enjoy.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Deputy Head of Mammals, Gordon Hunt, said “The orangs were very inquisitive, wanting to know who was in their enclosure and what they were doing. We are very grateful to the staff who volunteered their time to do this and for Standard Bank for supplying funding for the materials. This is not only valuable work which we simply don’t have the resources for, but as you can see from the video we took, the animals themselves thoroughly enjoyed having some new equipment in the enclosure to investigate.’
Orangutans share 97.6% of their DNA with humans. The Sumatran orangutan is critically endangered, a victim of the heavy de-forestation programme in their native land.
Will Thorp, CEO, Standard Bank, Jersey said it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, ‘Knowing that we’re helping improve the living conditions of these magnificent animals and so indirectly help in their preservation, was a great incentive for us all. It was also a delight to be so close to them and to see how interested they were in what we were doing. However, watching the video footage that Durrell took of their reactions to the new equipment has really been the icing on the cake.’
Watch the sumatran orangutans trying out their new canopies.