Unknown to many, within the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, there is a private piece of land with a little house where Ulrike Freifrau von Mengden lives. In 1968 the German became the first curator of the zoo and was granted the right to live there for life.

The delicate woman, better known as Ibu Ulla, came to Indonesia almost 60 years ago and dedicated her life to saving “Indonesia’s national treasures”. Her home became a sanctuary to numerous wild born, captive orangutans.