Posts tagged "orangutan"
We absolutely LOVE the new Imax film "Born to Be Wild 3D." The movie follows two amazing women, Biruté Galdikas and Daphne M. Sheldrick, as they work rescuing orphaned animals and raising them until they can be released in the wild.
Galdikas and her organization, Orangutan Foundation International, seek to protect the Great Red Apes and their only habitat, the tropical forests of Borneo and northern Sumatra. Sheldrick has been continuing the work of her husband through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, seeking to save the African wilderness and endangered wildlife. This film focuses on her efforts with baby elephants.
The teams that work with these intrepid women create a foster family for vulnerable babies who've lost their parents to poachers or encroaching civilization. From sleeping with a young elephant so he doesn't get lonely at night to carrying a car-averse rescued orangutan on the back of a motorcycle, these teams take ingenious steps to keep the animals happy. (The trailer above gives you a glimpse into the movie and the featurette below shares even more.)
There's nothing cuter than baby animals. And though puppies and kittens are beyond adorable, haven't you wondered what other, more exotic animals look like when they're young? Like an aardvark? Or a red panda? The recently published "ZooBorns" includes pictures of a variety of zoo and aquarium newborns from around the world.
Based on the ZooBorns website, the book series melds cuteness with wildlife conservation education, with 10 percent of the books' revenue going to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Endowment Fund. Check out the gallery of images below for a sampling of cute babies from the book. We bet you won't be able to stop saying, "Awww!"
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Based on the ZooBorns website, the book series melds cuteness with wildlife conservation education, with 10 percent of the books' revenue going to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Endowment Fund. Check out the gallery of images below for a sampling of cute babies from the book. We bet you won't be able to stop saying, "Awww!"
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Dave Parsons, Denver Zoo
Just 11 days after birth, Hesty had to be placed in an incubator by the zoo's primate care team. The baby hadn't been nursing, according to the Denver Zoo, and even though the staff had been doing all they could to get Hesty nursing on her own, they found her nearly unresponsive and severely dehydrated on July 1. At that point, they knew the best thing for the baby was to put her in an incubator near her mother's quarters so they could still see each other while Hesty received the care she needed.
Hesty almost doubled her weight over the next 18 days under the zoo staff's careful eye, while her mother watched closely from her enclosure. Hesty was reunited with her mom on July 19. She still didn't know how to nurse, however, so the staff sedated her mother and trained Hesty on the basics of nursing. She seems to have it down pat these days, but the staff is still monitoring the baby 24 hours a day, and are ready with formula just in case. To see an adorable video of Hesty and her mom, go here.
On the off chance that little Hesty doesn't bring enough cute to the table for you, check out the adorable animals in the gallery below!
It's not a flying pig, but it's almost as rare. Here we have a swimming ape!
Generally speaking, orangutans can't -- and don't -- swim. They stay away from the water, and if they do happen to slip into the old swimming hole, they're more likely to sink than perfect their side stroke. However, Suryia, a 7-year-old orangutan at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, is swimming with a passion and skill never before witnessed in his species.
Not only does he wade into the water, but he actually is able to dive for "treasures" and swim up to 20 feet independently, reports the (U.K.) Daily Telegraph. It started with his trainer giving him a life vest so he could learn the proper technique, and now... Well, just watch the video!
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Generally speaking, orangutans can't -- and don't -- swim. They stay away from the water, and if they do happen to slip into the old swimming hole, they're more likely to sink than perfect their side stroke. However, Suryia, a 7-year-old orangutan at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, is swimming with a passion and skill never before witnessed in his species.
Not only does he wade into the water, but he actually is able to dive for "treasures" and swim up to 20 feet independently, reports the (U.K.) Daily Telegraph. It started with his trainer giving him a life vest so he could learn the proper technique, and now... Well, just watch the video!
Tad Motoyama/Los Angeles Zoo
Exactly how does an ape prognosticate the results of a football game? Today, keepers placed two fruit-filled papier-mâché figures, decorated as the mascots for University of Texas and the University of Alabama, in the orangutan habitat. Bruno chose to chow down on the figure representing the Longhorns, thereby making his pick known to the world.
We have to wonder, though, if Alabama's mascot was a banana instead of Big Al, would the tide have turned?
The Los Angeles Zoo houses six orangutans, a big deal considering they're the only surviving great ape species in Asia, and orangutans themselves are endangered.
If you're in the Los Angeles area and would like to see these intelligent apes in the flesh, make sure to wear your college-football gear (hats, shirts, etc.). The Los Angeles Zoo is offering discounted admission to college football fans from now through Sunday, January 10. Just mention the promotion to receive a dollar off the price of zoo admission!
Martha Stewart ain't the only gal who likes to get her DIY on.
Wildlife documentarian Sir David Attenborough introduces us to this "old lady" orangutan in the BBC Earth documentary "Life of Mammals". The Borneo primate, who was rescued from captivity and returned to the wild, has been bit by the home improvement bug, proudly demonstrating her penchant for wood, nails, and hammers.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but if it is indeed broke, then we just found ourselves the cutest handyprimate this side of...well, Borneo.
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Wildlife documentarian Sir David Attenborough introduces us to this "old lady" orangutan in the BBC Earth documentary "Life of Mammals". The Borneo primate, who was rescued from captivity and returned to the wild, has been bit by the home improvement bug, proudly demonstrating her penchant for wood, nails, and hammers.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but if it is indeed broke, then we just found ourselves the cutest handyprimate this side of...well, Borneo.
"Let's make beautiful music together." Photo: axinar/Flickr
The hairy apes strip leaves from trees, fold them, hold them to their mouths and make a "kiss-squeak" sound, primatologist Madeleine Hardus told Paw Nation. Hardus, a researcher at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, studied wild orangutans in Indonesian Borneo and observed their music-making first-hand.
"To our knowledge, orangutans are the only non-human primates to manipulate sound with tools," she said.
As far as wind instruments go, the folded leaves don't exactly rival clarinets and flutes, but they serve an important purpose, Hardus found. The apes' kiss-squeak noise is actually an alarm call. Hardus discovered that when the orangutan makes the sound through the folded leaves, the pitch of the kiss-squeak is lowered significantly, reports New Scientist magazine.
Hardus told the magazine that orangutans also kiss-squeak with their mouths alone, or sometimes with their hands placed over their mouths. They seem to use the leaf instruments only when they're really distressed. She believes the lower-pitched noises made through the leaves help orangutans deceive would-be predators like snakes, leopards and tigers. Deeper calls often mean bigger animals. Predators fooled into overestimating the size of the squeaking ape might abandon the hunt.
"This study clearly indicates that the abilities of great-ape communication have been traditionally undervalued," Hardus told Paw Nation. "Researchers [have been] studying the orangutans for years and they keep on surprising us."
Orangutan contemplating her next move. Photo: jimbowen0306/flickr
Karta, a 27-year-old female orangutan and resident at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia, is really smart. Like scary, Einstein smart.
On Monday morning, she used a stick to short-circuit the hot wires surrounding her enclosure and made a break for it. She got as far as the vegetated area next to the fence separating her from members of the public, when --- drat! --- she was spotted by an eagle-eyed zoo visitor.
Undeterred, the resourceful orangutan created a makeshift ladder by piling sticks, grass and plant roots, and climbed up onto the fence. There, she was met by veterinary staff "on standby" with tranquilizer guns to sedate her if she got loose.
After mulling over her options for about a half hour, Karta ultimately decided to climb back down from the fence.
"I think when she actually got out and realized where she was ... she's realized she shouldn't be there so then she's actually hung onto the wall and dropped back into the exhibit," said the zoo's curator, Peter Whitehead.
Seems this was not Karta's first stunt, and will likely not be her last. "We've had issues with her before in normal day to day operations where she tries to outsmart the keepers," Mr. Whitehead stated. "You're talking about an animal that's highly intelligent." You don't say!
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