Here are 20 interesting facts about orangutans that you must know. Learn these fascinating facts about the cousin of humans on your way to the zoo this summer.
1. International Orangutan Day (#OrangutanDay)
Orangutans are lonely creatures who like a good chuckle. They are powerful but kind and may learn to utilize tools and communicate through sign language. Yes, there is plenty to celebrate on August 19, which is International Orangutan Day (#OrangutanDay).
The day is intended to promote awareness not just of these giant tree dwellers that like eating fruit and swinging from branches, but also of their condition as a species threatened with extinction due to dwindling jungle habitat. So here are 20 facts about these orange-furred monkeys that you should know.
2 In Malay, “orangutan” means “man of the forest,”
“Orangutan” means “man of the forest” in Malay, since the animal lives alone in lowland woods, “feasting on wild fruits like lychees, mangosteens, and figs, and slurping water from holes in trees.” The two primary varieties of these apes, Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, appear and behave similarly. Sumatran orangutans have longer facial hair than Bornean orangutans.
The Tapanuli orangutan is a third orangutan species that has been recognized as unique since 2017. Only approximately 800 of these creatures remain in the wild, ranking it the rarest of the orangutans.
3. Tree dwellers who are heavy
Orangutans are rather large. They are the heaviest and biggest of the tree-dwelling animals. Males weigh 83 kilos (183 pounds) on average and stand 1.5 meters (five feet) tall. Females are often smaller and lighter, weighing an average of 37 kg (82 lb.). They prefer to build nests in trees, while older males may occasionally sleep on the ground.
4. They have Long Arms
The longest of the big apes, orangutans have relatively long arms while having small legs (their arms stretch to the ankles when they are standing). The arms finish in hook-like hands with long fingers and small thumbs, reaching lengths of 2.2 metres, or seven feet. Orangutans can swing through the trees with just their arms.
5. They love a good joke
Orangutans reportedly like laughing. According to research, when these apes play together, they will tease and playfully hit one other. When one of them gives their form of laughter—a wide grin—the other will frequently imitate it, proving that they have empathy.
According to researcher Marina Davila Ross, “It underlines how crucial this sort of emotional communication is.” “Communication with social partners is aided by empathy. It promotes collaboration and aids in the formation of social relationships.
6. They’re smart too
Chantek was a very wise man. Under the supervision of an anthropologist, the male orangutan who resided at Zoo Atlanta acquired American Sign Language communication skills. He could also use a conventional toilet, tidy his room, and barter for his favorite foods, especially cheeseburgers. Sadly, after being put on a low-sodium diet and routinely monitored with heart ultrasounds, blood pressure checks, and blood testing, he tragically passed away in 2017 at the ripe old age of 39 as an orangutan (As the BBC reports, this remarkable primate died at Zoo Atlanta on Monday. He was 39 years old).
7. Food for thought
The majority of orangutans are frugivores, or vegetarians, more precisely. They occasionally eat small animals but mostly avoid meat (unless they are Chantek) and eggs. However, they like fruits like durians, rambutans (which are similar to lychees), bananas, and coconuts. Additionally, if they’re particularly peckish, they can eat with both hands and both feet.
8. Kids walk all over mom
Orangutans swing from branch to branch in the forest. However, if the distance is too great for a child to traverse, the mother may frequently create “a live bridge for the infant to scurry across.” Adult males will very logically descend to the ground and go to the next tree if they are unable to swing across a gap between trees due to their weight being too heavy for a limb.
9. Wary of predators
Despite being on the top of the food chain in their native rainforests, orangutans still need to be cautious of some predators. They must avoid the ravenous tigers and cloud leopards in Sumatra. Orangutans spend more time on the ground in Borneo since there are no tigers there. Humans, especially illegal hunters, pose the single greatest threat to these apes.
10. Not dangerous themselves
No one is physically threatened by orangutans, including humans. In fact, they tend to attempt to avoid humans in the forest because of their mild and shy demeanor. In the wild or in captivity, orangutans seldom pose a threat to humans. If an orangutan is released back into the wild after being under managed care with humans, some degree of violence could happen.
11. Well, mostly not dangerous
Although orangutans often do not pose a threat to humans, they should nonetheless be treated as wild creatures and with respect. This was discovered in Indonesia by a social influencer who began mocking an orangutan after scaling the zoo’s barrier. In the confrontation that was captured on camera, the monkey casually pulled his tormentor off his feet by grabbing him through the bars. Barriers and fences are present in zoos for a purpose.
12. Threatened by extinction
Orangutans previously numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but due to the degradation of the rainforest, particularly the lowland forests, they are now endangered in Borneo and Sumatra. Orangutan populations have been wiped out in the wild due to logging, road building, and clearing land for habitation.
Less than 7,300 Sumatran orangutans and between 45,000 and 69,000 Bornean orangutans, according to estimates, are still alive. These figures were from 2000 and 2003, therefore the current state of affairs may be worse.
13. They can sometimes use tools
Orangutans can learn to use the tools that are provided to them even though they are unable to create their own at this time. Two monkeys were trained to utilize stones as rudimentary hammers in an experiment at the Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park in Norway. One orangutan even cut a rope and opened a fruit box using a flint flake that had been honed into an axe-like instrument.
14. Many years between babies
In the wild, orangutans can live for 35 to 40 years, while in captivity, they can live for 50 years. Only four to five infants are born to orangutan women in their lifespan since they only give birth once every eight years. And unlike any other animal, the young are dependent on them for a longer period of time—they nurse until they are around six years old. Females may remain close to their moms until they are in their teens, watching and picking up parenting techniques from the more experienced females.
15. They like to hang out by themselves
In the jungle, orangutans are semi-solitary creatures, in contrast to other primates, which frequently dwell in groups. Unless they are a mother with children, they spend most of their time alone once they reach maturity. However, antisocial guys can hang out by themselves up to 90% of the time.
16. Cheek pads are alluring
Cheek pads are a feature that some mature male orangutans have while others don’t. Male dominance is frequently indicated by the cheek pads. In a forest, there is often just one male orangutan with the characteristic, and he usually has a bigger physique and a massive, pendulous neck sac (used to make resonant long bellows). Since they favor these men more often for reproduction, females appear to find cheek pads appealing.
17. Calls from the wild
Orangutans utilize their voices, even though they are less articulate than other primates. They occasionally made extended cries from the forest canopy, presumably warning others of a storm that was coming. Males with neck sacs make a distinctive cry to exert their authority over females and ward off rival males, and they can giggle when delighted and coo to newborns.
Additionally, they communicate nonverbally by “pointing, waving, smashing pebbles and twigs and moving their limbs in a certain way.”
18. They make their bed and sleep in it
Orangutans will create a new nest for themselves almost every night, often five to thirty meters (15 to 100 feet) high in the trees. Additionally, if they take a midday sleep, they could even create another daytime nest for themselves. When the mood strikes, they may occasionally reuse an old nest, sprucing it up with a few fresh branches. In zoos, they also create nests.
19. Home ranges
Orangutans tend to have large home ranges. Females typically have a territory of nine square kilometres (3.5 square miles), staying fairly close to their mothers’ home ranges. Males roam much further, with home ranges of up to 40 square kilometers (15 square miles).
A male’s home range may intersect with several female home ranges, but not those of other males. If a dominant male notices an intrusion of another male, they’ll warn them off with a booming call.
20. A face that any mother could love
Baby orangutans have pinkish faces that eventually become dark brown or black. If orangutans combed their hair, they would have adorable tufts of hair that stood upward and would resist combing. The infant clings to its mother’s abdomen as she swings through the woods at first. When the children get a bit older and braver, they begin to ride piggyback.
21. They’re a lot like us
With 96% of our DNA shared, the orangutan is one of humanity’s closest cousins, if not the closest. They have 28 physical traits in common with humanity, compared to seven and two for gorillas and chimpanzees, respectively. “Enameled molar teeth with flat surfaces, larger asymmetries between the left and right sides of the brain, an increased cartilage-to-bone ratio in the forearm, and similarly formed shoulder blades” are just a few of the common features.