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Orangutan who survived gunshot starts first day of 'baby school'

By Daniel Uria
Didik, a baby orangutan who survived a gunshot wound, attended his first day of "baby school" where he had the opportunity to spend time with other orangutans and learn to climb. 
 Screen capture/International Animal Rescue/Facebook
Didik, a baby orangutan who survived a gunshot wound, attended his first day of "baby school" where he had the opportunity to spend time with other orangutans and learn to climb. Screen capture/International Animal Rescue/Facebook

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UCKFIELD, England, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A baby orangutan who survived a gunshot wound got the opportunity to meet other orangutans and learn important survival skills.

International Animal Rescue shared video of Didik the orangutan as he recovered from his bullet wound surgery and began his first day of "baby school."

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"Didik was a little nervous at first at the sight of so many inquisitive and unfamiliar faces," the rescue sanctuary wrote. "However it didn't take him long to get used to his new surroundings and he was soon venturing up on to the climbing frame – into the arms of his babysitter for some reassurance!"

Didik was found abandoned in a West Borneo shop with a bullet lodged in his chest after his mother was shot so he could be captured and sold as a pet.

"For an animal like an orangutan, witnessing the death of its mother is a profoundly shocking experience. That is undoubtedly why Didik looks so sad and depressed," Program director Dr Karmele Llano Sanchez said. "It will take a long time for him to recover from the nightmare he has been through and start to take an interest in his surroundings."

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Didik's disposition was slightly more cheery as he got the opportunity to spend time with the other young orangutans and learn to climb.

"It wasn't long before Didik was up in the trees with his friends, climbing and swinging confidently in the branches," the IAR wrote.

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