Orangutan Sumatran: description and photo

Orangutans are one of the most famous in the world and popular species of anthropoid apes. Scientists refer them, along with gorillas and chimpanzees, to the number of animals closest to humans. Currently, only two species of these red monkeys are known: Orangutan Sumatran and Bornean. In this article we will consider in detail only the first of them.

Orangutan or orangutan?

Some people believe that pronunciation and spelling of the name of this monkey is wholly and completely reduced to one single variant - "orang-utan". 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, "orang-utan" is a debtor, and "orangutan" is a forest man, a forest inhabitant. That is why preference should be given to the second version of the name of this beast, even though some text editors still "consider" his writing incorrect.

Where does this monkey live?

Orangutan Sumatran, whose photo you can see in our article, lives throughout the territory of the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Nevertheless, the absolute majority of these monkeys is found in the northern part of Sumatra. Their favorite habitats are tropical forests and jungles.

Sumatran orangutan. Description of the species

It is believed that these anthropoid apes have their own African counterparts - gorillas. Maybe this is so, but the monkey features of the orangutans are much stronger than in the gorillas. For example, the forelegs of the red monkey are long, and the hind legs are noticeably shorter than those of their African counterparts. Brushes and feet with long curved fingers in orangutans play the role of peculiar hooks.

With the help of his crooked fingers Orangutan Sumatran easily clings to branches and tears off delicious fruits, but we'll talk about this a little later. Unfortunately, for the most complex actions of his limbs are not adapted. As for the size of these monkeys, adult orangutan males are inferior in size to gorillas, and they weigh less. The Sumatran orangutan, whose weight does not exceed 135 kilograms, can reach a height of only 130 centimeters.

However, if you do not compare the sizes of orangutans to the size of gorillas, they are quite impressive anthropoid apes: their arms are 2.5 meters long and the body is massive and dense, completely overgrown with red hair, hanging down in shreds. The Sumatran orangutan, whose head has a round face with swollen cheeks, turning into an amusing "beard", also produces peculiar sounds about which we learn later.

Why do the Sumatran orangutans "groan"?

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 television programs, remarked: "He grunts like an old man in pain. But he is not an old man, and he does not hurt. He is an orangutan. "

It is curious that the throat sac in these animals swells, like a ball, making squelching sounds, gradually turning into a deep throat moaning. These sounds can not be confused with any others. You can hear them even for a kilometer!

Lifestyle Orangutans

The average life expectancy of these animals is about 30 years, the maximum - 60 years. These red "old men" prefer to live alone. If you ever get to meet a small group of Sumatran orangutans, then know that this is not a clan of monkeys, but only a female with its offspring. By the way, females, 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 Orangutan Sumatran has its own territory, where several females live at once. The fact is that the males of these monkeys are polygamous creatures and prefer to have at their disposal a whole harem. The owner of the territory with loud shouts warns strangers wandering into his domain. If the alien is not going to leave, then the relationship begins to be clarified.

This happens in a very unusual way. Both orangutans, as if on command, rush to the nearest trees and convulsively begin to shake them. It reminds of a real circus: the trees are shaking, the foliage is falling from them, exhausting screams are heard all over the district. This view continues for a fairly long time, until one of the opponents will not give up their nerves. Usually, the losing male of the Sumatran orangutan breaks his throat and gets fatigued.

The bulk of the life of red monkeys runs exclusively on trees. They also sleep high above the ground, having prearranged themselves a comfortable bed. It is worth noting that Orangutan Sumatran is a fairly peaceful animal. However, as we already know, this principle does not apply to their kinsmen: fights for the territory between them occur on an ongoing basis.

What do these monkeys eat?

In principle, Orangutan Sumatran (photos of these monkeys usually cause a lot of impressions) - it's a vegetarian. So they happily savored mangoes, plums, bananas, figs.

Thanks to incredible power and other physical data, these monkeys quite skillfully climb the highest tropical trees of the islands for their favorite delicacy - mango. If, for example, the upper branches of trees are thin, an anthropoid monkey of impressive size settles calmly in the middle of the crown, bending branches to himself. Unfortunately, the trees themselves are doing harm: the branches break and wither.

Orangutans, who live on the island of Kalimantan, gain weight rather quickly. And all because summer is the most favorable time for red "forest dwellers". The abundance of a variety of tropical fruits allows monkeys not only to quickly grow fat, but also to store fat for the rainy season, when they will have to eat only bark and leaves.

The orangutan population

As already mentioned above, in nature there are two kinds of these monkeys: Bornean and Sumatran orangutans. The number of these animals for the last 75 years, unfortunately, decreased by 4 times. The main factors that negatively affect their population are:

• Constant pollution of the environment;
• Illegal catching of young animals and their sale.

Moreover, the population of these animals strongly depends on the state of the tropics in which they live. That is why it is necessary to stop the widespread cutting down of the jungle and tropical forests, which leads to the death of orangutans. Currently, these monkeys are only about 5 thousand individuals. If you do not take measures to protect them in time, they can disappear from the face of the earth forever.