Saturday, July 30, 2011

Orangutans



The Bornean Orang-utan is the largest tree-dwelling mammal in the world. Females reach an average height of 1 – 1.2m and weigh around 40kg, whilst males are slightly larger, up to 1.4m in height and between 50 – 90 kg. Males develop cheek pads on the side of their faces, the size of which determine their age.

Orang-utans spend almost their whole lives in the tree tops, rarely descending to the forest floor. They feed mostly on fruit, but also leaves, bark and termites when food is scarce. They use their arms and legs to swing between trees in the forest canopy and build a nest to sleep in each night, usually in a fork of two branches.

Female orang-utans give birth to one offspring every 8 years on average. The mother will carry her infant around for the first 2-3 years of its life and it will remain with her for up to 7 years.

Orangutans live in humid jungles of Borneo and Sumatra. They spend most of the time in the trees, but occasionally move down to the ground.

Orangutans actually does not have natural predators ..
but the largest predators of orangutans that are our own or humans and therefore we as intelligent human beings who must preserve the orangutan populations ..

Some Interesting Facts
orangutans can hold objects with hands or feet.
Orangutans have the greatest male arm span (length from one end of the hand to the other end of the hand when the hands are extended) reached 2.3 m.
Male orangutans can make long distance calls can be heard within a radius of 1 km. Used to mark / monitor their area, call the female, another male orangutans prevent disruptive. They have a large throat pouch that makes them able to do so.
Every evening, they make nests in trees.

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