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ORA-CLE SIXTH EDITION

ORA-CLE SIXTH EDITION

With their distinctive red fur, ORAngutans are the largest arboreal mammal, spending most of their time in trees. Long, powerful arms and grasping hands and feet allow them to move through the branches. These great apes share 96.4% of our genes and are highly intelligent creatures.

In the Malay language the word orangutan means “man of the forest”. In the lowland forests in which they reside, orangutans live solitary existences. They feast on wild fruits like lychees, mangosteens, and figs, and slurp water from holes in trees. Flanged males have prominent cheek pads called flanges and a throat sac used to make loud verbalisations called long calls. An unflanged male looks like an adult female. In a biological phenomenon unique among primates, an unflanged male can change to a flanged male for reasons that are not yet fully understood. Bornean and Sumatran orangutans differ a little in appearance and behaviour. While both have shaggy reddish fur, Sumatran orangutans have longer facial hair.