Nadine Alexandra Stares at the Orangutan

Nadine Alexandra, Miss Indonesia 2010, traveled thousands of kilometers from Jakarta to the wilderness in Central Kalimantan to accompany orangutans. Since 2010, he fell in love with the world of conservation because he was stared at by orangutans.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI.

KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

Nadine Alexandra

Miss Indonesia 2010, Nadine Alexandra, came to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan on Wednesday (14/6/2023) afternoon to participate in releasing orangutans with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. This is not the first time she has been involved in wildlife conservation for protected species. The woman born in 1991 has been involved in the conservation world since she was Miss Indonesia.

She did not immediately jump into the world of conservation just because of invitation. Nadine has an unforgettable experience with orangutans. She remembers the first time she interacted with orangutans in 2010 when she went to Samboja Lestari in East Kalimantan.

At that time, in the morning, Nadine assisted the staff of the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation to escort orangutan children to the forest school. One of the dozens of orangutan children suddenly approached Nadine and reached out his hand towards her, as if asking to be taken to school.

"The orangutan child stared directly into my eyes. That moment made me realize that we, humans, have very similar eyes. The only difference is that they are furry and have a different language, but their eyes are so similar to human eyes," said Nadine.

After looking deep into its eyes, Nadine then took the orangutan baby to the forest school, a school that teaches orangutans how to be wild again, especially those who need rehabilitation. At the forest school, Nadine observed the behavior of the orangutan children, just like the behavior of human children.

"So, when I paid attention at the school, we could tell these were the orangutans who were nosy, these were the mean people, and these were the shy people. I realized that each orangutan has their own personality," said Nadine.

That moment also stuck in Nadine's heart. She began to fall in love with the world of orangutans and continued to make efforts to conserve orangutans. "I believe that it is our (human) duty to protect and preserve orangutans, including their habitat, which is forests," she said.