There were a lot of semi-wild orangutans about this morning, and we arrived to see a white powder flying down from the roof. Matimus had grabbed the container filled with the babies' dry milk power and was now scattering it all over the place. Boney got up there to get it back, and there were around three orangutans sucking it from the roof and peering down at us. We were sheltering in the fruit store, as Ceria was also about. Then Victor grabbed Jack's leg from behind, as if it had come from outside. That's the first time I have seen Jack jump at anything, and Victor was grinning from ear to ear.

This morning, Archie was not in a good way. He had absolutely explosive diarrhoea, the worst I have seen so far. It was all up the walls and over the floor under his cage. Poor bubba. Ospie is also still recovering, so they both stayed in today and we tried to clean around them. Alagu was eager to get out, as per usual, but was taking forever to drink her milk, grabbing and eating bananas in between sips and trying to pull the bottle between the bars. When I tried to stop her, she decided to pull on my glove. I had Sepilok's empty bottle in my other hand – so I had to just try and pull the other way, until eventually the glove snapped, and she was victorious – having managed to snavel about a third and shove it in her mouth. They love chewing the rubber, but swallowing it can make them ill. The rangers can usually get them to hand it over though.

In the afternoon, when we removed the babies from the big cage, I drew the two bolts across, but didn't have time to lock it properly, as I had my hands full with keys and Koko. I had barely walked half way to the ropes when Matimus decided to unbolt the cage and slip inside, and Kala was getting ready to join her. Maohun was still in there, but thankfully Boney was nearby and got them both out pretty swiftly. We also saw the big male, not Yokmil, but the one who had been in a cage awaiting release when Rosa helped him escape. He decided to pay Tiger a visit, but was not being aggressive, although he did pick up a massive rock, and was lugging it around. He also decided to try and lift one of the drain pipes that run along the ground. Thankfully he didn't try too hard, as he easily could have snapped it!

Mimi also decided to visit again, and sat in front of us on the fence eating a bunch of leaves she had plucked from the bushes. In doing so, we solved the mystery of why some of the other orangutans have been parading around with green arms. She would basically chew up all the leaves, then grab a mouthful of her own arm hair and suck as hard as she could, until green saliva was running down her arm. This would then produce a flat, dry green ball from the leaf, which she would then eat. She did this over and over, using her hair as a makeshift filter, and gradually dying it green in the process. It was the weirdest thing to watch, and certainly not the nicest. Yet it was fascinating too. I don't know why they do that – Amoy says it's their way of playing, so they don't get bored. She was also telling us how Victor sometimes puts a stick behind his ear, and Bidu Bidu has noticed, and now copies him.

Elis was here this evening and he got talking about the situation in Malaysia. It's actually quite sad. The Chinese are running everything, even bribing the government to get land and bring in illegal labour, so the Malaysians are missing out on a lot of the wealth opportunities in their own country – which is one of the reasons palm oil is so important. It's quite sad such things are allowed to happen.