Entertaining Orangutan
by Lynn Sprowl
Title
Entertaining Orangutan
Artist
Lynn Sprowl
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Entertaining Orangutan by Lynn Sprowl
I went to this zoo when I was a child and have remembered it all these years...hahaha
We went for a visit in the fall of last year. I have reservations about zoos, but I loved it. In real life, the orangutan is highly endangered. Watching this entertaining fella was really an honor. Anyway, that's an orange in his mouth.
Orangutans are the only great apes to occur outside of Africa, and are the largest arboreal mammals in the world.
They are extremely intelligent, and have shown evidence of tool use and culture – traits once believed to be uniquely human. Despite being one of our closest relatives, human activities are having a devastating impact on the Sumatran orangutan and its habitat. They are the slowest breeding of all mammals, with mothers caring for their young for up to 7 years. With such a low reproductive rate, even a small decrease in numbers can lead to extinction. There are only two species in its genus Pongo, the other being the Bornean orangutan. Its major threats include the destruction of its lowland rainforest habitat into palm oil plantations and agriculture, logging for timber, creation of new roads as well as some being killed by humans, or taken into the illegal pet trade. Concerted conservation efforts are needed to prevent this peaceful primate from being the first great ape to become extinct in the wild.
Uploaded
June 19th, 2022
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