Orang Utan Essay

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What makes an orangutan special? So many things do. Orangutans are born with an ability to reason and think. This large, gentle red ape is one of humankind’s closest relatives, sharing 97% of the same DNA. Indigenous peoples of Indonesia and Malaysia call this ape “orang hutan” literally translating into English as “person of the forest.” In times past they would not kill them because they felt the orangutan was simply a person hiding in the trees, trying to avoid having to go to work or become a slave. Orangutans are unique in the ape world. There are four kinds of great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. Only the orangutan comes from Asia; the others all come from Africa. There are two separate species of orangutan – the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) Orangutans are only found on the islands ofSumatra and Borneo The orangutan is the only strictly arboreal ape and is actually the largest tree living mammal in the world. The rest of the apes do climb and build sleeping nests in the trees, but are primarily terrestrial (spending their lives on the ground). Even the hair color of the orangutan, a bright reddish brown, is unique in the ape world. The orangutan has the most remarkable ability to travel through the forest treetops. They make their home in these trees and build nests each night out of leaves and branches in the very tops of the trees. This is where they live and sleep – sometimes as much as 100 feet above the ground. The orangutan has little need to come down from the trees, as they are uniquely adapted for their arboreal lifestyle. Orangutans have unique adaptations to their life in the treetops: feet designed much like hands for climbing, flexible hips for holding on in any direction, long arms for reaching and long, strong hands and feet Almost all of the food they eat grows in

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