National Geographic Kids Chapters: Best Friends Forever: And More True Stories of Animal Friendships

Since the day they met, it’s been Suryia and Roscoe, best friends forever. Neither one is the boss. If Roscoe wants to nap, Suryia flops down beside him. If Suryia lies down to rest, Roscoe does, too.

Suryia is better at sharing than Roscoe, however. Suryia shares everything. He breaks up his cookies and feeds pieces to Roscoe. Roscoe really likes Suryia’s special monkey cookies.

Suryia also tries to share bananas with Roscoe. Roscoe does not like bananas. He will not open his mouth. He turns his face away. Then Suryia gives up. He eats the banana himself. Suryia loves bananas.

Best buds since the day they met, Suryia and Roscoe enjoy cuddling up with each other.

Chapter 2

Ambassador

SURYIA

Suryia has a special job at the animal preserve. He is one of Doc’s “animal ambassadors” (sounds like am-BASS-uh-ders). The word “ambassador” usually means a person who represents his or her country. Suryia’s job is to represent orangutans that live in the rain forests.

Doc thinks it’s good for people to see Suryia and the other animals at the preserve up close. He wants people to see them in action. He hopes this will make people want to help protect the animals’ relatives in the wild.

Suryia is a great animal ambassador. People just love to watch him. When Suryia and Roscoe are together, they really draw a crowd!

Sometimes the two friends walk in the yard together. Suryia grabs Roscoe’s leash and tugs it. That gets his pal going. They stroll around for a few minutes. Soon Suryia does more than just walk. He grabs his feet and rounds himself into a ball. Over and over he rolls. He falls on Roscoe. Then Roscoe jumps on top of him. Suryia pulls the leash one way. Roscoe tugs it back the other way. There is no such thing as walking in a straight line for these two.

Suryia can have fun with almost anything. For him, an empty box is a fine place to sit. Then he puts the box on his head like a hat. It gets a little ripped. That makes it into a good superhero cape! Soon the box is completely torn open. Now Suryia crawls under it. Does anyone want to play hide-and-seek?

Like all orangutans, Suryia likes to make faces. He pulls his bottom lip out. He puckers his rubbery lips. He makes silly smiles. He sticks out his tongue. He wipes his face down with his hand and plays peek-a-boo. Sometimes he blows pfffffft sounds. That always makes people laugh.

People don’t get tired of watching Suryia. But Suryia does get tired of watching people. He would rather play with Roscoe. He likes to hang out with other orangutans, too.

Lucky Suryia! One of his other jobs is doing exactly that—hanging out with other orangutans. Or really, to let them hang out with him. In the wild, baby orangutans learn about life from their families. At they preserve, they learn from Suryia. They learn by watching and playing with him.

If Suryia lived in the wild, he’d be on his own by now. At the preserve he lives in a house with three younger orangutans. An animal trainer named Moksha Bybee (sounds like MOKE-shuh BYE-bee) lives with them.

Suryia and the three little orangutans love to wrestle. They have fun tickling each other. They run and roll across the yard. Sometimes Suryia grabs a twig to scratch his back. The little ones find their own twigs. They try to scratch their backs. Sometimes Suryia makes kiss-kiss noises at the babies. They make kiss-kiss noises back.

Most of the time Suryia gets along just fine with the little orangutans. But at mealtimes he has to eat by himself. Otherwise, Suryia would grab their food. That’s just what older orangutans do.

In the evening, Moksha gives the orangutans a bath. She puts them in the tub. She tries to wash them. They just want to splash. They want to play. This surprises Moksha. In the wild, orangutans do not like water. In the wild, water means danger. In the tub, water means fun.

Lots of things would be different for Suryia if he lived in the wild. At the preserve, he spends his days with lots of other animals. In the rain forest, he would spend his days alone. He would look for food alone. At night he would make a nest of leaves in a treetop and sleep alone. He would not have a dog as a friend!

At the preserve, Moksha helps the young orangutans get ready for bedtime. She pulls blankets into round, soft nests for them. Suryia makes his blanket nest all by himself.

Before lights out, Moksha does one more thing. She calls, “Roscoe, bedtime!” Roscoe runs into the house. Then he curls up to sleep next to his best friend, Suryia.

Orangutan School

In Sumatra and Borneo, wildlife workers run special schools for young orangutans that don’t have moms. The workers teach them skills they need to survive in the wild.

Wild orangutans live in trees. They can go for weeks without touching the ground. At orangutan school, baby orangutans practice on jungle gyms made of ropes and netting. They learn how to climb up and stay up. If a baby goes too high and gets scared, a worker helps it back down. After a cuddle, it’s time for another try!