5 Reasons We Love Orangutans
Let’s celebrate one of our favorite apes.
Orangutans belong in the wild, where they can live a free and natural life.
There’s no shortage of reasons why we love orangutans. Check out a few below and celebrate World Orangutan Day with us!
1. Orangutans eat with their feet
Although a foreign concept to humans, using your feet to eat is quite common for an orangutan! Their long toes are helpful when gathering their food.
2. Orangutans prefer fruit, fruit, and more fruit
Who doesn’t love fruit? Certainly not orangutans. Anywhere from 60%-90% of an orangutan’s diet is composed of ripe, juicy fruits like mangosteen, lychees, and figs. They even love durian fruit, which has a reputation for being particularly pungent.
3. Orangutans share 97% of their DNA with humans
In fact, “orangutan” originates from the Malay words “orang hutan,“ which means “human of the forest.“ We’re honored to be so genetically similar to these fascinating animals!
4. A mother orangutan’s bond with her baby is rock solid
Orangutans hold one of the strongest parent-offspring bonds in the animal kingdom. Orangutan mothers spend nearly a decade ensuring their baby is ready for adulthood.
5. Orangutans use tools to assist everyday life
They may not be using a knife and fork, but orangutans have devised plenty of other ingenious methods of using tools in their daily lives. For example, this orangutan mother created a makeshift umbrella out of leaves to shield her and her baby from the rain.
As much as we love orangutans, we hate that some are kept as pets in human homes or forced to interact with humans as part of tourist attractions. Orangutans belong in the wild, where they can live a free and natural life. Help orangutans by supporting the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would restrict the private possession of primates like orangutans.
