| Behaving like an orang-utan
Orang-utans are the largest arboreal, or tree-dwelling, mammals in the world, meaning they spend most of their lives living in trees. They sometimes move on the ground by shuffling on their palms, unlike other great apes that ‘walk’ using their knuckles.
They are also diurnal (daylight creatures) and most of the day is spent climbing, clambering and brachiating (swinging from branch to branch) in search of food. At night, they build nests to sleep in using twigs, leaves and branches, sometimes as high as two stories above ground.
Orang-utans are generally passive creatures but males are usually hostile towards other males.
Orang-utans are thought to be the most intelligent mammals after humans. They have a high learning and problem solving ability and have also been seen using tools, an important sign of intelligence, for all sorts of daily activities such as insect foraging, honey collection, protection against bees or to reach for branches and fruit. | | Some groups of orang-utans have even learned how to swim, a skill they are not naturally born with. They have even been taught by human researchers to use sign language. Between 1973 – 1975, scientist Gary Shapiro taught Princess, a young female orang-utan, 40 different signs and Rinnie, another female orang-utan, 30 types of signs. |
| Family life
Males mature at 15 years old while females mature at 12. Females commonly have their first young at 13 – 16 years. An orang-utan is pregnant for 8 months and gives birth to live young, usually one at a time or, at most, two. Throughout their lifetime, females will likely only have 3 or 4 young.
Orang-utan young have the longest childhood of the great apes and can be seen holding tightly to their mother’s body as she swings from tree to tree. When they are older, they follow behind her closely.
Adult males are usually solitary and mix with females only to mate. Males who meet tend to fight by charging, breaking branches, grappling with each other and biting. |
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| | Females, on the other hand, are often seen in small groups made up of their young, other young females and young males who are not necessarily theirs. | Eat like an orang-utan
Orang-utans are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and meat. This includes leaves, shoots, seeds, bark, insects, honey and bird eggs. At least 65% of their diet, however, is made up of fruit. Durians are their favourite!
Orang-utans require high quality food, notably fruits. In regions where natural fruiting is infrequent and seasonal, such as hill ranges, orang-utan populations may not be able to survive even where there is no hunting or disease. Orang-utans can and do eat young leaves and bark plants, but these are not their main foods. They cannot survive for long without fruits.
Orang-utans have also been observed to eat soil or rocks. They do this to get additional mineral nutrients in their diet, to absorb toxic substances and to treat illnesses such as diarrhoea. |
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