Orangutans are one of the world's most famous and popular species of great apes. Scientists consider them, along with gorillas and chimpanzees, to be among the closest animals to humans. Currently, only two species of these red monkeys are known - the Sumatran and Bornean orangutans. In this article, we will consider only the first of them in detail.
Orangutan or orangutan?
Some people believe that the pronunciation and spelling of the name of this monkey is entirely reduced to one single option - "orangutan". Even Microsoft text editors "skip" this word, while the word "orangutan" is underlined in red. However, this spelling is erroneous.
The fact is that in the language of the population living on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, "orangutan" is a debtor, and "orangutan" is a forest man, a forest dweller. That is why preference should be given to the second version of the name of this beast, even though some text editors are still"consider" his spelling incorrect.
Where is this monkey?
The Sumatran orangutan, whose photo you can see in our article, lives throughout the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. However, the vast majority of these monkeys are found in the northern part of Sumatra. Their favorite habitats are tropical forests and jungles.
Sumatran orangutan. Species description
It is believed that these great apes have their African counterparts - gorillas. Maybe this is so, but the monkey features of orangutans are much more pronounced than those of gorillas. For example, the front limbs of the red monkey are long, and the hind limbs are noticeably shorter than those of their African relatives. Hands and feet with long curved fingers in orangutans play the role of a kind of hooks.
With the help of his crooked fingers, the Sumatran orangutan easily clings to branches and picks delicious fruits, but we will talk about this a little later. Unfortunately, for the most complex actions, his limbs are not adapted. As for the size of these monkeys, adult male orangutans are inferior to gorillas in their dimensions, and they weigh less. The Sumatran orangutan, which weighs no more than 135 kilograms, can reach a height of only 130 centimeters.
However, if you do not compare the size of orangutans with the size of gorillas, then these are quite impressive great apes: the length of their arms in a span is 2.5 meters, and their torso ismassive and dense, completely overgrown with red hair hanging in tufts. The Sumatran orangutan, whose head has a round face with swollen cheeks, turning into a funny "beard", also makes peculiar sounds, which we will learn about later.
Why do Sumatran orangutans grunt?
Researchers observing the behavior and lifestyle of Sumatran orangutans noticed that these monkeys constantly and heavily sigh. Once, the famous zoologist and professor Nikolai Nikolaevich Drozdov, studying these animals in one of his TV shows, remarked: “He groans like an old man in pain. But he's not an old man, and he's not in pain. He is an orangutan.”
It is curious that the throat sac of these animals swells like a balloon, making squelching sounds, gradually turning into a deep throaty moaning. These sounds cannot be confused with any others. You can hear them even for a whole kilometer!
Orangutan lifestyle
The average life expectancy of these animals is about 30 years, the maximum is 60 years. These red-haired "old men" prefer to live alone. If you ever happen to meet a small group of Sumatran orangutans, then know that this is not a clan of monkeys, but just a female with her offspring. By the way, females, when meeting each other, try to disperse as soon as possible, pretending that they do not see each other.
As for males, the situation here is, of course, more complicated. Each adult Sumatran orangutan has its own territory in which they liveseveral females. The fact is that the males of these monkeys are polygamous creatures and prefer to have a whole harem at their disposal. The owner of the territory with loud cries warns strangers who have wandered into his possessions. If the alien is not going to leave, then the showdown begins.
It happens in a very unusual way. Both orangutans, as if on command, rush to the nearest trees and convulsively begin to shake them. It resembles a real circus: the trees are shaking, the leaves are falling from them, heart-rending screams are heard throughout the district. This performance continues for quite a long time, until one of the opponents loses his nerve. Usually the losing male Sumatran orangutan rips his throat and gets tired.
The main part of the life of red monkeys takes place exclusively on trees. They also sleep high above the ground, having previously arranged a comfortable bed for themselves. It is worth noting that the Sumatran orangutan is a rather peaceful animal. However, as we already know, this principle does not apply to their relatives: fights for territory between them occur on an ongoing basis.
What do these monkeys eat?
In principle, the Sumatran orangutan (photos of these monkeys usually cause a lot of impressions) is a vegetarian. So they enjoy eating mangoes, plums, bananas, figs.
Thanks to their incredible strength and other physical characteristics, these monkeys are quite adept at climbing the tallest tropical trees of the islands for their favorite delicacy - mango. If a,for example, the upper branches of trees are thin, an anthropoid red monkey of impressive size calmly sits down in the middle of the crown, bending the branches to itself. Unfortunately, this is to the detriment of the trees themselves: the branches break and dry out.
Orangutans living on the island of Kalimantan are gaining weight quite quickly. And all because summer here is the most favorable time for the red-haired "forest dwellers". The abundance of various tropical fruits allows the monkeys not only to quickly gain weight, but also to store fat for the rainy season, when they will have to eat exclusively bark and leaves.
Orangutan population
As mentioned above, in nature there are two types of these monkeys: the Bornean and the Sumatran orangutan. The number of these animals over the past 75 years, unfortunately, has decreased by 4 times. The main factors negatively affecting their population are:
- constant environmental pollution;
- illegal capture of young animals and their sale.
Moreover, the population of these animals is highly dependent on the state of the tropics in which they live. That is why the widespread deforestation of the jungle and tropical forests, which leads to the death of orangutans, should be stopped. Currently, there are only about 5 thousand of these monkeys left. If timely measures are not taken to protect them, they may disappear from the face of the Earth forever.
