We let everyone out this morning and they took off! It was one of the first times Bakut has been allowed out, so I made a point of watching him today. Physically he is the cutest of the baby orangutans – he is like a teddy bear. Very fluffy, very cute face and, surprisingly, very short and stumpy arms and legs. This means it is very different when he climbs. He is a very enthusiastic climber, but he can't swing around as much, so he kind of moves in sharp, jolted movements, hand over hand. He is not as elegant as the other orangutans.

Sepilok is a grabber – he loves to grab you with all his limbs, and he frequently gets lazy and tries to return much earlier than he is supposed to. Then it takes two or three of us to get him back out on the ropes. He just becomes a a dead weight and clings to everyone and everything except the rope. He also loves to hang upside down over the footpath and will swing his hands down to reach you – I try and extend a hand sometimes and watch him swing back and forth until he is within reach to give me a high five. His other favourite trick is to bounce up and down with the rope in his hands until he gets enough momentum to reach the railing of the fence down below with his feet. It takes him quite a few goes of bouncing before he can reach sometimes. When he does he stays stretched between the two until he eventually drops down to the railing and then the perpetual cycle of trying to get him back on the ropes continues!

In the afternoon there were just three of us, as Jack left early to go on a trip to Mt Kinabalu. So I made up the milk bottles on my own. They are a mixture of milk powder and electrolyte sachets. I hadn't locked the sliding door, so Itinban decided to open it and started to head in – they can grab things they shouldn't so quickly, meaning you can't leave anything unattended. He grabbed my wrist, but I managed to shove him pretty swiftly out the door. Then we went to transfer the babies from the outdoor cage to the outdoor play area – but Maohun was still unwell, so he couldn't go out. I left the cage door bolted while Ibri escorted Nonong back inside (only the two bolts, no lock and key), and while we were getting the other babies on the ropes, Itinban unbolted the door and climbed in with baby Maohun. He started to wrestle with him and bite him a little – nothing major, but he could accidentally hurt him as he is quite small, so we rushed over. Ibri was back by now and using a stick to distract Itinban. Maohun managed to escape into the hammock overhead. I was at the door yelling for him to come down. He saw me and decided to make a run for it. His little legs were carrying him as fast as he could along the cage floor, with Itinban hot in pursuit. Maohun grabbed both of my hands with his and I managed to pull him just out of reach. Then he threw his hands around my neck and clung to my side he was so scared. So I carried him back inside like that – what an experience!

It was our last day working with the babies for this rotation – I will miss them. They are very sweet and easier to manage than the older ones, although not as much character yet – and I am privileged to have a behind the scenes look at the important work that takes place at the centre.