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Orangutans are highly intelligent with
an ability to reason and think. This
large, gentle red ape is one of our
closest relatives, sharing 97% of the
same DNA as humans. Indigenous peoples
of Indonesia and Malaysia call this ape
Orang Hutan literally translating into
English as "People of the Forest". In
times past they would not kill them
because they felt the orangutan was
simply a person hiding in the trees,
trying to avoid having to go to work or
become a slave.
Orangutans are unique in the ape world.
There are four great ape species:
gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and
orangutans. Only the orangutan comes
from Asia; the others all come from
Africa.
The orangutan is the only strictly
arboreal ape and is actually the largest
tree living mammal in the world. The
rest of the apes do climb and build
sleeping nests in the trees, but are
primarily terrestrial (spending their
lives on the ground). Even the hair
color of the orangutan, a bright reddish
brown, is unique in the ape world. The
orangutan has the most remarkable
ability to travel through the forest
treetops. They make their home in these
trees and build nests each night out of
leaves and branches in the very tops of
the trees. This is where they live and
sleep - sometimes as much as 100 feet
above the ground. The orangutan has
little need to come down from the trees,
as they are uniquely adapted for their
arboreal lifestyle.
Almost all of the food they eat grows in
the treetops and the frequent rains fill
the leaves thus supplying their drinking
water. When water is difficult to get,
they chew leaves to make a sponge to
soak up water in tree cavities. When it
rains very hard the orangutan makes an
umbrella for himself out of big leaves.
Many people are familiar with the
studies that have shown chimpanzees
using tools, such as termite-fishing
sticks. Recent studies show that some
populations of orangutans also fashion
tools to aid in the difficult task of
foraging for food.
Orangutans have four hands instead of
two hands and two feet. This makes them
graceful and swift while swinging
through the trees but it makes walking
on the ground very slow and awkward.
That is why the orangutan is at a great
disadvantage on the ground, and why the
orangutan rarely comes down from the
treetops. Their food is there, their
home is there and they are safer there.
An orangutan's lifespan is about 35-40
years in the wild, and sometimes into
the 50's in captivity. They reach
puberty at about 8 years of age, but a
female isn't ready for her own baby
until she's in her teens
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