They also have a long coat of dark hair on their back. The unflanged male looks like an adult female. Both reproduce and an unflanged male can change to a flanged male for reasons that are not yet fully understood. Orang-utans are the only primate in which this biological phenomenon occurs. Male orang-utans can tip the scales at 90 kg, while females weigh between kg. Social structure Orang-utan means 'person of the forest' in the Malay language. They live in primary and secondary forests.
Although they can occur up to 1,m above sea level, most are found in lowland areas and prefer forests in river valleys or floodplains. Orang-utans travel by moving from one tree to another, and usually avoid climbing down to the ground. But when they do, they move on 'all fours', placing their clenched fists on the ground. Orang-utans make a nest of vegetation to sleep in at night, and rest in smaller nets during the day.
Adults are generally solitary, although temporary aggregations are occasionally formed. Males' large home ranges overlap with the ranges of several adult females.
Adult males are generally hostile to one another, although they do not display territorially. Life cycle Orang-utans can live up to 50 years in the wild. Females first reproduce between years of age. They give birth at most once every 5 years, and the interval between babies can be as long as 10 years.
Orang-utans usually give birth to a single young, or occasionally twins. Orang-utans stay with their mothers for the first years of their life. An infant rides on its mother's body and sleeps in her nest until it is able to survive on its own.
The long time taken to reach sexual maturity, the long interbirth periods, and the fact that orang-utans normally give birth to just a single young mean that orang-utans have an extremely low reproductive rate. This makes orang-utan populations highly vulnerable to excessive mortality, and means that populations take a long time to recover from population declines.
The rest comprises young leaves and shoots, insects, soil, tree bark, woody lianas, and occasionally eggs and small vertebrates. They obtain water not only from fruit, but also from tree holes.
Three species There are three species of orang-utan - the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli - which differ a little in appearance and behavior. The Bornean and Sumatran species have shaggy reddish fur, Sumatran orangutans have longer facial hair.
Sumatran orang-utans are also reported to have closer social bonds than their Bornean cousins. The Sumatran orang-utan is almost exclusively arboreal. Females virtually never travel on the ground and adult males do so only rarely.
This is in contrast to Bornean orang-utans, especially adult males, which more often descend to the ground. The orangutan is the only non-human great ape left in Asia, but due to all the threats against them their chances of survival is quickly diminishing.
While exact numbers are unknown, one thing is for sure: the number of orangutans in the wild is decreasing drastically. In Sumatra the latest calculations show that orangutan numbers have been reduced from 12, in to only about 6, today. In Borneo fewer than 35, orangutans are believed to remain. Below you can find some facts about orangutans and forests. Remember that the numbers are estimates.
Exact figures are hard to come by. Their arms are much longer than their legs. The arm span for large males can be up to 8 feet. Average lifespan: Estimated years in the wild, into their 50s in captivity— depending on diet and exercise. Number of babies: One at a time, every 6 or 7 years, perhaps as many as 4 or 5 total. Babies nurse until they are about 6 or 7 years old. They have the longest dependence of any animal on earth. Young males begin to break away from their mothers after they, themselves, reach puberty.
Females stay with their mothers longer, often learning child-rearing skills from her. Social status: Adult males live alone while females live with their young. When they reach puberty males leave the nest and go off in search of their own territory and females.
Young females stay in forest contingent to that of their mother and they stay with her even as she has a new infant, learning from her how to be a mother. Even though they reach puberty at about 8 years old, a female isn't physiologically ready to have her own baby until she's in her teens. Their diet consists of bark, leaves, flowers, a variety of insects, and most importantly, several hundred types of fruit. They can eat fruit which we would consider unripe, giving them an advantage over other fruits eaters.
Babies need to learn to recognize hundreds of species of plants and trees — which ones are edible, and how to consume them, which ones to avoid. Some orangutan favorites are very difficult to eat because they are protected by sharp spines, husks and shells.
Young orangutans need to be taught how to extract the fruit. Orangutans can be said to have 4 hands, as they are equally capable with both their hands and feet. They are physically built for life in the trees. Walking on the ground can be somewhat slow and awkward for them.
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At Tanjung Puting wild females give birth on average every 7. Infant orangutans stay in close contact with their mothers for a long time. They also use leafy branches to shelter themselves from rain and sun, and sometimes even drape large leaves over themselves like a poncho. Orangutan offspring will sometimes be carried until they are 5 years old and be breast-fed until they are 8 years of age! Even when young orangutans are too old to be carried and fed by their mother, they may still remain close to her, traveling with her, eating, and resting in the same trees, until they are about 10 years old.
Once they become independent, they will be alone or in the company of other immature orangutans. Such prolonged association between mother and offspring is rare among mammals.
Probably only humans have a more intensive relationship with their mothers. Young orangutans learn almost everything from their mothers, including: where to find food, what to eat and how to eat it sometimes this involves using special tools , and how to build a proper sleeping nest.
Also, mothers probably protect young orangutans from predators such as clouded leopards and pythons in Borneo, and tigers in Sumatra. A flanged male has big cheek pads on the sides of his face and a large pendulous throat sack under his chin.
An unflanged male has neither of these traits, and his body is usually smaller. Unflanged males are sexually mature and fully able to father offspring; females, however, seem to prefer to mate with the flanged males.
It is not fully understood exactly when and why a mature male undergoes the transformation from unflanged to flanged, or even if every male undergoes this transformation although it seems likely that he does eventually. Thus, not until the dominant flanged male dies, moves away, or is defeated, or the subadult male himself moves away or stays low, can the unflanged male develop his cheek pads and large size. Only humans have a more intensive relationship with their mothers.
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