This Fathers Day, there’s a heartfelt, affordable way to show your appreciation for your Dad by adopting Sumatran orangutan twins through the Australian Orangutan Project. They are in desperate need of funds to buy medicines, nappies, food and the basics of life. Each orangutan infant requires one-on-one attention for the first eight years of their lives - the time it takes for an orangutan mother to teach her infant how to survive in the rainforest.
On 21 January 2011, an adult female at Batu Mbelin named Gober, gave birth to healthy twins; a boy named Ganteng (meaning handsome) and a girl named Ginting (a popular local name). Orangutan twins are very rare and these babies are extra special since both parents are blind and lucky to be alive.
Gober lost her sight to cataracts and was rescued in 2008 after her blindness forced her to raid crops, risking almost certain death from villagers. The twins Father, Leuser, was shot by villagers with an air rifle and was found near death with 62 air rifle wounds including three pellets lodged in his eyes.
Due to their blindness both parent orangutans now have to spend the rest of their lives at Batu Mbelin, a care centre in Sumatra. Gober and Leuser were introduced to each other in 2010 in the same cage for companionship. The usual breeding ban at the centre was lifted to improve the quality of life for elderly Gober, now well over 40 years old. Gober is now kept well and truly busy looking after not one, but two beautiful babies.
It is hoped that both infants will eventually be released to a life in the wild, something that has now been denied to both their parents. Despite their handicaps, both Gober’s and Leuser’s genes will be given a second chance to contribute to the conservation of their species in the wilds of Sumatra.
“Adoption is an opportunity to make a real difference to orangutans’ lives by improving their survival chances, offering them a safe, secure and stable future and habitat. From what our adoptive families tell us, it is an enormously rewarding experience for them too,” says Leif Cocks, President and Founder of the Australian Orangutan Project.
100% of this Father’s Day donation of $110 will go towards the raising and support that the care centre in Sumatra need to get these young infants back into the wild.
Your Father’s Day foster pack will include: A certificate with your Dad’s name on it; a biography of the twins and their parents; activity booklet; magnet and sticker. PLUS, when you donate, you will receive an AOP stubby cooler just to let him know how much you love him!
So to celebrate Father’s Day this year, please help the orphans to celebrate too by giving them a future. You can adopt the twins too by visiting http://www.orangutan.org.au/adoptions-new/adoption-the-twins-yearly and following the prompts.
Please ring 1300 REDAPE for inquiries!
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