let's meet our friend.......

I know you guess it right!!!our 'friend' in the title is absolutely the orang utan!!!Today our topic is 'all about orang utan and why are they so unique and special!!!'this topic will be divided into 2 posts bcuz i'ts too long and wordy.anyway,please read it bcuz to love orang utan is to know them!

Orangutans are large apes that live in southeast Asia (on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra). These apes mostly live in trees (they are arboreal) and swing from branch to branch using their arms.

The word orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay language. Habitat destruction, poaching and predation have led to steep decline in the population of the animal.In times past, they would not kill them because they thought the orang utan was simply a person hiding in the trees, trying to avoid having to go to work or become a slave.

Known for their intelligence, they live in trees and are the largest living arboreal animal. They have longer arms than other great apes, and their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes(they are the onlY RED APE). Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra

ANATOMY
Orangutans have a large, bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla.

Hair:
They are mostly covered with long reddish-brown hair.

The Head:
The orangutan has a large head with a prominent mouth area. Adult males have large cheek flaps (which get larger as the ape ages).

Senses:
Orangutans have senses very similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.

Hands and Feet:
Orangutan hands are very much like ours; they have four long fingers plus an opposable thumb. Their feet have four long toes plus an opposable big toe. Orangutans can grasp things with both their hands and their feet. The largest males have an arm span of about 7.5 feet (2.3 m).


SIZE
Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla.



DIET
Orangutans are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals) but are mostly herbivorous (plants comprise most of their diet). They eat fruit (their favorite food), leaves, seeds, tree bark, plant bulbs, tender plant shoots, and flowers. They also eat insects and small animals (like birds and small mammals).

Orangutans don't even have to leave their tree branches to drink, they drink water that has collected in the holes between tree branches.

INTELLIGENCE AND LANGUAGE
Orangutans are very intelligent. They have been known to use found objects as tools; for example, they use leaves as umbrellas to keep the rain from getting them wet. They also use leaves as cups to help them drink water. When it rains or the sun is hot an orangutan will hold a leafy branch or two over its head to protect itself from getting wet or overheated.Mosquitoes bother orangutans just like they do humans and they will use branches like fly swatters to swish them away.