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| Sunday, 30 April 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Orangutans..... Shy, solitary creatures Compiled by Chamitha Kuruppu They have sparkling eyes, adorable facial expressions, human-like gestures and second-to-none intelligence. They are none other than orangutans.
Orangutans are large apes that mostly live in Southeast Asia. They are the only great apes from Asia. They are found in tropical rainforests in northern Sumatra, Indonesia and in low-lying swamps in Borneo. The orangutan is an official state animal of Sabah in Malaysia. The word orangutan (also written as orang-utan or orang utan) is derived from the Malay 'orang hutan', meaning 'Man of the forest'. The orangutan, with its long reddish-brown, shaggy hair, has a strong, heavily-built body, and is the second largest primate. The orangutan is about two-thirds the size of the gorilla. Orangutans are shy, solitary animals that are active during the day. They generally live alone in large territories. This is probably due to their eating habits; they need a large area in order to get enough food and too many orangutans in one area could lead to starvation.
Although orangutans are generally passive, aggression towards other orangutans is very common; as they are solitary animals, they can be fiercely territorial. Orangutans are mature and capable of reproducing when they are seven to ten years old. Like human mothers, orangutan females give birth to a single baby after 8.5 to 9 months. Young orangutans are weaned from their mothers by about 6-7 years of age. Orangutans generally live alone, and at times, in pairs or in small family groups. They are active in the daytime, spending their time at all levels of the trees. Each evening, like the gorillas, the orangutans too construct a "nest" in the tree branches,to curl up and sleep in the night. These nests are made out of leaves and branches. Nests are shared by a mother and her nursing offspring. Sometimes, the orangutan will use a leaf as a "roof" to protect itself from the rain. Orangutans often nap in the afternoon after a morning spent obtaining food.
Orangutans have senses very similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. Being very intelligent, they have been known to use certain objects as tools; for example, they use leaves as umbrellas to keep the rain from getting them wet. They also use leaves as cups to drink water.
Fact file Class: Mammalia: Mammals Diet: Fruit, also leaves, seeds, young birds, and eggs. Order: Primates: Size: body:1.2 - 1.5 m (4-5 ft), tail: absent, Family: Hominidae, Conservation status: Endangered, Scientific Name: Pongo pygmaeus, Habitat: Rainforest, Range: Sumatra, Borneo Subspecies or not? There are two groups of orangutans. Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (from Borneo, with a round face and dark red hair) and Pongo pygmaeus abelii (from Sumatra, with a narrow face and paler hair). Some scientists think that these two groups of orangutans are different subspecies (a subdivision of a species), others think that they are not.
Since these two groups of orangutans have been geographically separated for a long time, they are now physically distinct from each other. They are not different species since they are genetically similar enough to interbreed. What they look like... The orangutans have a large head with a prominent mouth area. These human-like animals have long and powerful arms that reach to the ankles when they stand erect. There is a small thumb on each broad hand. The legs are relatively short and weaker than the arms. Their feet have four long toes plus an opposable big toe. Orangutans can grasp things with both their hands and their feet. Males are much larger and heavier than the females, and are also identified by the cheek flaps that surround the face of the mature adult. Adult males are about 4.5ft (1.4 m) tall and up to 180 lbs (82 kg) in weight. All adults have fatty throat pouches. Their diet... Orangutans are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals), but plants comprise most of their diet. They eat fruit (their favourite food), leaves, seeds, tree bark, plant bulbs, tender plant shoots, and flowers. They also eat insects and small animals like birds and small mammals. Did you know that orangutans don't even have to leave their tree branches to drink water? They drink water that has been collected in the holes between tree branches. Lifespan Orangutans live about 50 years in captivity; their life-span in the wild is only 30-45 years (like most animals, they live longer in captivity).
Orangutans are an endangered species. They are decreasing in numbers quickly, as they lose habitat to people. The animal that poses the biggest threat to the orangutan is none other than man. Baby orangutans are caught and sold around the world as pets, further aggravating the problem. The trappers usually kill the mother to steal the baby. As its habitats are being seized by man, the orangutan's population is decreasing and it is in grave danger of extinction. Orangutan habitat is destroyed mostly due to logging and mining. Forest fires too which have been increasing rapidly in the last decade, have been responsible for the loss of their habitats. How they communicate... Male orangutans are capable of very long, loud calls known as "long calls", that carry through forests for up to a kilometre. The "long call" is made up of a series of sounds followed by a bellow. These calls help the male claim his territory, call to females, and keep out intruding male orangutans. The large throat sac the males have, lets them make these loud calls. Orangutans usually move by swinging from one branch to another; this is called brachiating. Orangutans can also walk using their legs (but rarely do). However,
they are not good at swimming. |
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