In 1978 on the island of Borneo, <br />A man by the name of Gary Shapiro, <br />Met a baby orangutan, <br />And so their relationship began. <br />He called her Princess, <br />And with some success, <br />Taught her 30 types of sign, <br />She would only learn what helped her dine. <br />I'm quite sure, <br />She could have learnt many more. <br />Gary adopted her as his daughter, <br />Their favourite game was to dive into water. <br />To his back Princess would cling, <br />Together they shared nearly everything. <br />She had lots of fun in Camp Leaky, <br />And was sometimes really sneaky. <br />She learnt to steal a dug-out canoe, <br />The fishermen's knots she could undo. <br />She'd paddle over to their traps, <br />To eat their fish and leave them scraps. <br />Princess was rather shrewd, <br />When it came to finding food. <br />The fishermen used rocks to make their canoes sink, <br />But had no idea how well orangutans could think. <br />She'd just empty out the rocks and water, <br />Another skill no-one had taught her. <br />An orangutan will make you look a fool, <br />If you think that brains only come from school, <br />So don't be blind, <br />Notice their clever mind, <br />As David Attenborough helped us see, <br />With an amazing film by the BBC. <br />'The Life of Mammals' made Princess a star, <br />And showed how clever Orangutans are.<br /><br />Stephen Katona<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/princess-the-orangutan/
