Young male Wousan was staying very close to adult female Chinta while the group was outside. I saw him inspect her genitals and he even groomed her a little, as shown, which I think is unusual in adult orangs. When she went down to the island, he followed her closely and then rushed after her again when she returned to this high perch near the house. Chinta seemed quite comfortable in his company.
When I first saw the group outside Chinta's daughter Natalia was clinging tightly to her mother. But I had to walk through the lemur walk-through to get a better view and I was some distance away when I saw Natalia running away from Wousan and Chinta. I don't know if he pulled her away from her mother, but he certainly chased her down to the ground. She eventually wandered off on her own across the island, where Gambira was also foraging. Mali and her daughter Tattau were indoors and watching from the window (they are always kept separate and they went outside later in the day).
It's been very interesting, and at times alarming, observing the behaviour of the newly formed group of Wousan 10, Chinta 29, Natalia 5, and Gambira 22. Wousan and Gambira have been together since he arrived from Cologne in 2017 (still no sign up for him!) and he seemed to be under Gambira's thumb. He's now discovering what it's like to be more dominant and has been quite rough with Chinta, his new favourite. She's had to go from being Natalia's devoted mother to the constant object of his affections.
Wousan, meanwhile, veers from not wanting Natalia near Chinta to wanting to play vigorously with her, chasing her, grabbing her and rolling over with her so that you can't work out which bit is her (she is still quite small). I was reassured by a keeper that Chinta and Gambira would step in if things got too rough, and indeed I saw that this week when Natalia must have squeaked and Chinta rushed at Wousan who ran off to sit with Gambira. A learning experience for them all!
