Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. The name orangutan is derived from two Malay words – orang, meaning person and hutan meaning forest. So orangutan means person of the forest. Humans and orangutans share approximately 97% of the DNA and 28 physical traits. Orangutans laugh, recognise faces, ‘talk about the past learn from each other, and pass on the knowledge to the next generation. Hence, it is only fitting that we call the animal the ‘person of the forest.
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. Older males develop wide cheek pads, a unique feature among primates. The typically dark tan or brownish skin is covered with relatively coarse and usually sparse red hair. Adult males and some older adult females may have partially or entirely bare backs, but the hair on a male can be so long as to look like a cape when he moves his arms.
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. Almost every night orangutans construct a sleeping platform in the trees by bending and breaking branches, leaves, and twigs. Unlike the African apes, orangutans frequently use vegetation to protect themselves from the rain.
Credit : Britannica
Picture Credit : Google
