Wild orangutans are now found only in the lush, swampy forests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia. In prehistoric times, there were huge orangutans that roamed over Asia. The genus Gigantopithecus, the largest fossil ape known to science, is related through primate evolution to the living orangutans of today.
The orangutan is the only great ape of Asia. Like the three African pongids (bonobo, chimpanzee, and gorilla), the orangutan is a vanishing animal threatened with extinction. This is primarily due to two factors: the wanton destruction of its natural environment as a result of the encroachment of human civilization (especially by loggers and miners) and the poaching of this so-called red ape for the purpose of selling orphaned infants on the black market after their adults have been killed. If serious and immediate measures are not taken, wild orangutans may become extinct by the middle of this century.
To understand and appreciate orangutans in their natural habitats, several primatologists have focused their research on studying this pongid on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Knowledge about the ecology and behavior of this shaggy red ape is necessary to enhance those methods that are dedicated to preventing the extinction of this great ape.
Having been encouraged by anthropologist Louis S. B. Leakey, Birute Mary F. Galdikas has devoted her professional career to the study of orangutans for the specific purpose of saving them from extinction. Her books and lectures, based on close-range and long-term research on Borneo, have added invaluable information about this red ape of Asia. Camp Leakey is her fitting tribute to the anthropologist who had realized that studying the great apes is crucial to comprehending the origin and evolution of our own species.
Orangutans spend most of their time in the trees. They are, in fact, essentially arboreal and semi-solitary. The relationship between mother and infant is a temporary one over a period of five years. Large adult males will come to the ground, spending much time shambling along the forest floor before climbing back into the trees. Peering down from the forest canopy, their faces resemble those of human beings, a characteristic that has earned the orangutan the the informal title of “person of the woods.”
Although they build nests in the trees or on the ground, orangutans do not live in complex structured societies or exhibit group social discipline. Adult males and females are primarily asocial or live in loose social groups. There is no family unit or lasting relationship between an adult male and an adult female. Orangutans spend much time feeding, resting in nests, and leisurely moving through the trees of the dense tropical jungles. They rarely groom each other and are usually silent. However, the powerful adult male will attract adult females by making a long shrill call when he releases air from his throat sac (gular pouch).
The orangutan diet is essentially frugivorous and includes buds, shoots, nuts, seeds, honey, soft bark, wood pith, young leaves, flowers, and insects, as well as wild unripe and ripe fruits but very rarely meat. Orangutans will use sticks to extract honey from bee hives in trees. Both in terms of their biology and behavior, these apes have adapted to life in the trees over thousands of years. Unfortunately, in captivity, the orangutan is lethargic and therefore prone to obesity and, consequently, the possibility of early death.
Because the orangutan is one of the four pongids, it is not surprising that this primate shows many biological similarities to the human animal. In fact, some scientists claim that our own species is closer to the orangutan than it is to the bonobo or chimpanzee or gorilla. This hypothesis encourages more research into the physical characteristics and behavior patterns of this Asian great ape.
In Pongoland at the Leipzig Zoo, visitors will see orangutans living in a large, natural forest-like habitat that allows these apes to roam freely. The project is sponsored by Germany’s Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Along with DNA databases preserving the genetic information of pongids as well as other primates, such exhibits help ensure the survival of the orangutan and the other three great apes.
The wild orangutan is a gentle, independent, and free-ranging ape. It lives a somewhat lonely existence in the rain forest canopy and, until recently, was isolated from human civilization. The ongoing studies of Galdikas and others will help to protect this unique pongid from abuse and extinction.
References:
- Galdikas, B. M. F. (1995). Reflections of Eden: My years with the orangutans of Borneo. Boston: Little/Brown.
- Galdikas, B. M. F. (2005). Great ape odyssey. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
- Galdikas, B. M. F., & Briggs, N. (1999). Orangutan odyssey. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
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