Attention orangutan! Steinmeier has to break off the statement
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender watch a large orangutan eat while visiting the orangutan breeding station at the Semenggoh Wildlife Center in Malaysia.
Image: dpa
To see an orangutan – that was the hope of Federal President Steinmeier and his wife when they visited Borneo. However, it was not planned for the animals to come so close.
BPresident Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife traveled to Borneo at the weekend to get to know the island’s unique flora and fauna. On Saturday they visited the Semenggoh Wildlife Center in the Malaysian part of the island. The orangutans there showed interest in the high visit – and came closer to the Federal President than planned.
Steinmeier (67) had to break off a statement for journalists on Saturday with a summary of his Southeast Asia trip at the request of the game warden and go to a safe distance. The reason: Orangutan Edwin, one of the stateliest specimens at the breeding station, was heading towards him. “It hasn’t happened to me either, but it couldn’t either, because I’ve met this species for the first time, although the genetic material is said to be very similar to ours,” he said calmly afterwards.
Steinmeier did not find the encounter threatening. But: “Those who are more familiar with the animals and their behavior here have advised that one should not seek an argument,” he said, laughing. Before that, he and his wife had watched the animals being fed. The orangutans ate bananas, papayas and pineapples with relish.
