Emma is going to demonstrate orang utan climbing technique for us. We are looking down through the left hand window of the second indoor enclosure of Realm of the Red Ape (the Sumatran orangs and lar gibbons have access to four of these indoor enclosures and the eastern outdoor enclosure). Emma has just come through the entrance below our feet and she is holding onto the wire on the left hand side of the enclosure. She has decided to climb up to the windows to meet the public. First she checks that baby Indah is secure. Then she reaches for one of the webbing straps that hang down from the roof of the enclosure. It's a bit too far for her foot, so she has to use her arm. She pulls the strap towards her so that she can swing to her left. Once she has a firm grip with her left foot and her left hand, she can let go of the wire and start to climb. Indah has to hang on now. As Emma swings to her left, she reaches up to grasp the next strap and so she travels left and upwards from one strap to the next. At this point she starts to swing back to her right, still gaining height until she reaches the window round the corner from ours. Emma inspects her guests, but Indah isn't very interested. Thank you for the demonstrating your skills for us, Emma. Alan
Great photos as usual Alan. Somewhere I have a photo sequence of two little orangs at chester demonstrating how to beat each other up!
I know I've said this before but it is so thrilling and heartwarming to actually see Emma and the others at RORA actually being able to brachiate and behave naturally. Very embarrassingly, I cried when I saw the orangs at Chester and when Emma bought Indah over to the window for a good 20 minutes of 'look at my gorgeous baby'.
I think I'm slowly learning how to shoot photos in RotRA. I have always had mixed feelings about it as an exhibit: it's very good for the orangs, but it has problems for the visitors. I think it would be very interesting to try to spend a day making a comprehensive photo record of what happens at RotRA - perhaps one day this summer. Alan
Any tips then Gentlelemur? Having recently bought a new camera and slowly getting used to it but struggling to stop reflections off the glass!
I agree about RORA, it's awesome for the orangs, I just find that because you can only see through the smallish windows that they get really crowded and dirty easily. But whose to complain, the orangs are having an awesome time, they can actually brachiate
Get a rubber lens hood, if it's a bit floppy you can stiffen it with plastic tape, and then hold that flush against the glass - no reflections and a little extra support if the light is poor and you need a slow shutter speed. You can vary the angle a little by moving the camera, but you shouldn't try shooting at much of an angle because the image will get distorted. Alan
But if you get there 1st thing, or late, or at off peak times, it's very good for both - though I grant you I too was frustrated by the reflections photo-wise. The rubber hood is a good tip.
Well that's true, but it means that RotRA is very good for visitors when there aren't many visitors which is nearly the same as saying that it's not very good when most people visit it. I've seen the end of the queue almost at the bottom of the ramp - which shows that there can be a severe problem at busy times. I suspect that at such times many people get virtually no view of the orangs. Alan
