Orangutans Befriend Otters At A Belgium Zoo

A family of orangutans and otters were seen sharing a friendship this week at a Belgian zoo when the otters were allowed to live in the river that flows through the enclosure of the orangutans.

While the coronavirus pandemic grips the world, the heartwarming images from Pairi Daiza zoo in Domaine du Cambron, Belgium show that the otters “must be entertained, occupied, challenged and kept busy mentally, emotionally and physically at all times,” said zoo officials.

The otters would often find solace in hopping onto the island which houses a family of orangutans and then plays with them.

Mathieu Goedefroy, a spokesman for the zoo, said, “We have a very strong ‘enrichment’ program for our orangutans, where our keepers entertain them all day long with mind games, riddles, puzzles, and other stuff to train their intelligence. One of the ‘enrichments’ is to have different animal species together, so they can interact. That’s why we chose to let an otter family live in the river that runs through the orangutan territory. In particular baby, Berani and daddy Ujian have developed a very special bond with their neighbors. It makes life more fun and interesting for both animal species, which makes it a very successful experiment.”

Ujian, 24, Sari, 15 and their son Bernai, three, certainly didn’t mind the company – even appearing to play hide and seek with the adorable creatures.