It was a cold blustery winter day in the Melbourne Zoo in July 2011. Baby Dewi, an eight month old orangutan was born in the Melbourne Zoo in December 2010 and by her eighth month is so adorable that she is fondly nicknamed “Jennifer Anniston” by the rubber necking college students crowding around her enclosure one cold wintery day in July 2011.

What shocked one student, Bernard Lowry (no relation to the zoo’s Conservation Director, Ms Rachel Lowry) is that orangutan “Jennifer Anniston” was totally stark naked clinging to a rag, desperately seeking the solace of some warmth!

“How cruel and disgraceful for the zoo to exhibit this poor animal in such conditions!” exclaimed Lowry (Bernard that is); “Doesn’t the zoo know that orangutans are tropical animals and do not belong in a zoo, least of all in Melbourne with its cold biting winters?” the concerned student exclaimed.




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Just then “Jennifer Aniston” aka Dewi lets out several kiss squeaks, a call made by orangutans in distress that involves a sharp intake of breath through pursed lips and quite similar to the sound of a series of kisses.

It was a sound that Lowry (Bernard) recognized instantly as a distress call having watched a youtube video on orangutans the previous night. “That’s a distress call…poor Jennifer is freezing and she’s just a baby; we have to see the zoo’s Conservation Director,” said Lowry (Bernard again). His college mates nodded in agreement and together they asked to see the zoo’s Conservation Director, but she was nowhere to be found.

Observing all this was the CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron. He recognized the distress calls of Dewi too, having funded several orangutan conservation efforts in Borneo and Malaysia.

"Orang-utans are tropical animals and find it extremely hard to survive in biting cold temperatures,'' said Dr Yusof. “It’s cruel of the zoo to let the animals eat outside in the cold for the amusement and entertainmen t of the zoo’s visitors!” he continued.

In a statement to the Herald Sun, the zoo’s Conservation Director, Rachel Lowry sought to dispel the complaints of cruelty. “Our exhibits have access to beds that are heated. They're like bedrooms really that are maintained at 20C at all times.”

In the view of Deforestation Watch, it is indeed shocking for the zoo’s Conservation Director to claim that their “exhibits are created to simulate the natural environments of the species." If Ms Lowry (Rachel that is) believes that beds and bedrooms constitute the natural environment for orangutans, she has no business working with animals! She is either totally incompetent or totally naïve. If she really believes that beds and bedrooms are de rigeur for orangutans, we have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell her! THE END