Robin, born in 2009, arrived to us from a private zoo which was closed by the authorities. In captivity, he had grown very attached to humans – loving nothing more than to play tricks on his human caregivers. We knew straight away that he couldn’t be released back into the wild: he would seek out human settlements, which would put him in danger of violence.

This means we have to do everything in our power to give Robin a rich, fulfilling life under our care. We want to build a larger enclosure that gives him more space and the opportunity to live in an environment as close to his natural habitat as possible; with trees to climb and ropes to swing from, and in the future, hopefully another unreleasable orangutan to give him company.

His full name is ‘Robinson’. Named after Robinson Crusoe; because of his isolation, it is like he is the only one on his island.

Robin loves trust games! He offers his finger to be chewed gently by a human friend, also inviting us to do the same. He even covers his teeth with his lips to show how nice and friendly he is!