In Forest School, orangutans form close bonds with their surrogate mothers, especially the littlies in the Nursery Group. They will even sleep in the company of their babysitters, who cater to the youngsters’ needs around the... View Article
18 December 2010
What makes orangutans special and why they are threatened. Part 1 of an interview with Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust.
3 February 2015
After spending a year studying orangutans with NG Explorer Dr. Cheryl Knott, Robert Rodriguez Suro is returning to Indonesia to commence his own National Geographic Young Explorers Grant project.
20 September 2014
On a blue-sky day at the Toronto zoo, flocks of children squired by teachers and parents mingle excitedly between exhibits.
11 September 2013
It's the ape equivalent of Google Maps and Facebook. The night before a big trip, Arno the orangutan plots his journey and lets others know where he is going with a long, whooping call.
19 November 2012
They may not take up surfing or start second careers as cupcake-makers, but chimpanzees and orangutans seem to go through a ‘mid-life crisis’, just like humans.
17 April 2012
Orangutans may be smarter than previously thought if a new study into the sophisticated way they build nests is any indication.
18 January 2012
When fruit is scarce, try chomping on a slow loris. That seems to be the strategy adopted by the normally vegetarian orang-utans, which have been spotted knocking the small primates out of trees and killing them with a bite to the head.
24 October 2011
A team of anthropologists have shown that orangutans may have the ability to learn socially and pass these lessons down through generations — evidence that culture in humans and great apes has the same evolutionary roots.
23 August 2011
An orangutan from Japan is on its way to becoming a Web sensation after a video of the primate washing itself just like a human emerged online.
17 June 2011
Footage of an orangutan apparently trying to revive a poorly coot chick has emerged online two years after the video was recorded.
15 April 2011
Orangutans swim about as well as they fly, but research on three Indonesian islands shows that these long-limbed apes nonetheless catch and eat fish.
29 January 2011
Among great apes, orangutans are humans' most distant cousins. These tree dwellers sport a coat of fine reddish hair and have long been endangered in their native habitats in the rainforests of Sumatra and Bor
18 December 2010
Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust, spoke with Laurel Neme on her "The WildLife" radio show and podcast about the process of rehabilitating orphaned orangutans and teaching them to be wild. This is the second in a two-part interview.
24 November 2010
Bornean apes went through a genetic bottleneck during ancient glaciation.
12 August 2010
A new study has found orangutans need less food fuel than we do for the same, or greater, levels of activity.
23 June 2010
If an orangutan blows a raspberry, smacks you on the side of your body or gives you a nip on the arm, don't worry.
13 April 2010
Researchers in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo are joyful after receiving confirmation that a young male orangutan used a rope bridge to cross a river, which has separated one orangutan population from another.
10 March 2010
Research into the long calls of male Orangutans in Borneo has given scientists new insight into how these solitary apes communicate through dense jungle.
6 January 2010
To say that orang-utans have much of a social life is rather misleading.
5 August 2009
Like Bruce Wayne switching to his Batman voice, orangutans may be going deep to deter predators, and some are even using tools to sound more intimidating, a new study says.
28 July 2009
Movement through a complex meshwork of small branches at the heights of tropical forests presents a unique challenge to animals wanting to forage for food safely.
18 June 2009
A University of Pittsburgh anthropologist argues in a paper published today that humans most likely share a common ancestor with orangutans, and not chimpanzees, which is the prevailing belief.
6 June 2009
Humans aren't the only ones who like it in the armpit. Our fellow great apes - orangutans, chimps, bonobos and gorillas - also squeal in response to tickling, and new research shows this behavior may be the evolutionary root of human laughter.
21 May 2009
Two female orangutans have been seen cannibalising the bodies of their recently deceased babies. Such behaviour has never before been recorded in any great ape species.
19 March 2009
Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Wild orang-utans spend 90 per cent of their time on treetops, and very rarely descend to the ground, unless disaster strikes, according to a press release.
24 December 2008
Orangutans can help each other get food by trading tokens, scientists have discovered - but only if the help goes in both directions.
12 December 2008
Throughout history, human beings have used the whistle for everything from hailing a cab to carrying a tune. Now, an orangutan’s spontaneous whistling is providing scientists at Great Ape Trust of Iowa new insights into the evolution of speech and learning.
29 July 2008
The following article from New Scientist provides another example of orangutans self medicating.
