SOCIETY
Orangutan – a symbolic primate of Borneo
Baku, May 6, AZERTAC
The orangutan, also spelled as orang-utan, any of three species of Asian great apes found in rainforests on the Southeast Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Literally meaning “the person of the forest” in Malay language, orangutans are considered as the iconic animals of the Borneo Island.
These giant primates possess cognitive abilities comparable to those of the gorilla and the chimpanzee, which are the only primates more closely related to humans.
Orangutans are not as powerfully built as the gorilla but are larger than the chimpanzee.
The adult male is typically twice the size of the female and may attain a height of 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) and a weight of 130 kg (285 pounds) in the wild; females weigh 37 kg (82 pounds) or less.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Orangutans are the largest arboreal animals, spending more than 90 percent of their waking hours in the trees, with most of their day dividing equally between resting and feeding.
Orangutans are predominantly ripe-fruit eaters, although they consume more than 400 different types of food, including invertebrates and, on rare and opportunistic occasions, meat.
In addition to feeding and resting, orangutans also spend short periods of time traveling through the forest canopy, where they typically scramble by using all four hands and feet.
Orangutans occasionally swing through the trees using only their arms (brachiation).
However, orangutans are slow on the ground, which enables a person easily keep pace with them.