Orangutans

By merely looking at certain primates, one can see the resemblance between them and humans. They have certain physical characteristics that are similar to those of humans. One type of these certain primates is the orangutan. Up until recently, I had never given a second thought as to what, if any, kinds of similarities orangutans had to humans not only in terms of physical traits, but also in terms of behavior. My trip to the zoo gave some insight on this.

At first, I thought I would either research gorillas or orangutans. It was between the two, but in the end I decided to go for the orangutans because they looked more interesting. By studying orangutans, I thought I would find that they were a lot like humans when it came to their social behavior. I thought that they would have a lot of interaction with one another. The results of my observations were very surprising.

The orangutan originally came from Asia, now they live in the tropical rain forests in Borneo and Sumatra. They live in trees 90% of the time. (Maynard: 14) They travel tree to tree by swinging and grasping a hold of the next tree with their feet or hands before letting go of the tree. Occasionally they do come down to the ground when they are una

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From the ages of 8 to 15 years, orangutans live with other young orangutans in a group. I was glad to finally see some sort of interaction between the orangutans.

Eventually, the young orangutan stopped playing with the branch and walked over to the mother who happened to be holding the blanket. The life span of this animal is approximately 35 to 40 years. Then, the mother began picking at the ground and eating the grass. Again, I could tell by her size and her lack of the pouch hanging from her throat. They form their hands into the shape of a cup in order to do this. This is the relationship that they have with their mother. I think that they are probably born with these innate ideas of how to live. It is because she made no sound, that I assumed the mother didn’t mind the young one taking the blanket. When a female is ready to mate, she will seek out an adult male. (Redmond: 38, 39)

Female orangutans breed every 8 to 9 years. This is when people have learned the essentials and are ready to live on their own. Orangutan live in the tree tops and they build a new nest every night to sleep in.

Approximate Word count = 2020
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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