Wild Kratts Orangutan Day by AndoAnimalia on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
Happy International Orangutan Day!!!
Every 19th of August is all about the red ape and my favorite nonhuman primate! This magnificent primate is the most arboreal of the great apes, spending 90% of their time in trees. And like all of the great apes, they are critically endangered, facing extinction due to human activity. This special day focuses on the conservation of orangutans and their natural habitat, a day rich in learning, sharing, and taking action to protect these incredible animals.
My very first Orangutan Day project! Orangutans have always been my favorite great apes, but of course, I've always loved great apes, to the point where I took physical (or biological) anthropology back in college. Unfortunately, orangutans never appeared in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Equestria Girls, so I couldn't make a vector of one, let alone a pic for this event. However, once I began watching Wild Kratts, and making some fanart for a few animals, I finally found my opportunity! I confess that I first watched this episode maybe 10 years ago. It was probably the only episode of the series I watched back then before revisiting it this year.
I was originally going to star Huge-O, the male Bornean orangutan that appeared in the series, along with a mother orangutan and her baby. However, I had little time, and references for the mother and child were harder to find. So, I stuck with Huge-O. I found a really great shot of him and got to work. I don't know which program the animators use for Wild Kratts, but making the gradient in Huge-O's beard and body can't be achieved in Photoshop. All I could do was make the gradients manually by making shape layers and using the feather affect to make them look like gradients, and it's not perfect!
Because this pic is starring only Huge-O, I didn't put in a jungle backdrop, especially since I didn't have the time. I think this orange sunburst works. Now let's talk about the red ape!
******
Orangutans are found in southeastern Asia, and there are only three species: the Bornean orangutan (like Huge-O here), the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), and the recently discovered Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis). The first lives in Borneo (obviously), and the other two in Sumatra. Although all three species share many similarities, like the distinct "red" hair and long arms and short legs, there are differences between them. Bornean orangutans are larger, have coarser, redder hair, are more robust, and the males have squarish cheek flaps. Sumatran orangutans have lighter, smoother orange-cinnamon hair, are thinner, have longer faces, have prominent beards, and the males have diamond-shaped cheek flaps. Tapanuli orangutans resemble Sumatran orangutans more than Bornean orangutans in body build and hair color. However, they have frizzier hair, smaller heads, and flatter and wide faces. Another difference is that Bornean orangutans are less social than Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans.
And speaking of which, all orangutans live solitary existences, in contrast to the other great apes. Or to be more precise, semi-solitary. This means they spend more time alone in the forest than they do in the company of others. This also means that they must get used to doing things on their own – even when it comes to grooming! Even though they are used to a life of solitude, some orangutans, especially females, will occasionally spend time with other females in the forest. This typically occurs when there are plentiful fruits available. After spending some time together, enjoying the fruit bounty, these orangutans will again go their separate ways. This semi-solitary lifestyle is a requirement for survival in the challenging rainforests where, dependent on the season, there would not be enough food to support a group of orangutans living together. Because ripe fruit makes up 80% of their diet, these resources are not easy to accommodate big groups of primates. By traveling alone, orangutans do not have to share food and therefore experience less pressure than a group of primates when the season means less food is available.
The social system of an orangutan is polygynous (one male, multiple females), like that of a gorilla troop. But it's not closely knit. Mature males are generally solitary, while mature females lone or in small groups each with one or two children. Mature males have a territory, which accommodates females raising his children, though they're dispersed. Unlike other primates, male orangutans mature quite differently. Reaching sexual maturity in their midteens, they would develop distinct cheek flaps or flanges, and huge throat sacs, which they use to emit bellowing roars that can be heard up to five miles, like a lion roar. This deters rival males and attracts females. However, male orangutans may exhibit arrested development by not developing the distinctive cheek pads, pronounced throat pouches, long fur, or long calls until a resident dominant male is absent. The transformation from unflanged to flanged can occur quickly.
Like all great apes, orangutans are brachiators. This means they use their arms to move from tree branch to tree branch, through a process called brachiation. Their arms are longer than their legs and are much more powerful. (While taking Physical Anthropology, all apes have an intermembral index of more than 100, which means their arms are longer than their legs; ours is less than 100 because we have shorter arms and longer legs, while monkeys and prosimians' are about 100 as they have the same length of arms and legs.) Having long arm bones also give more leverage to the muscles, and that gives apes tremendous strength (as strong as five to eight men). And orangutans definitely need that superstrength because they are the heaviest arboreal, or tree-living, animals in the world.
The name orangutan comes from the Malay words orang, meaning "person," and hutan, meaning "forest," and thus, these great apes are referred to as "people of the forest." Of course, orangutans are all members of the ape-human family, Hominidae; initially, the great apes were placed in Pongidae, the great ape family whereas Hominidae was the human family. They share 97% of their DNA with humans.
Orangutans, like all great apes, are highly intelligent. In fact, they have high cognitive abilities comparable to the other great apes. This high level of intelligence manifests itself in tool-use and even the making of simple tools in the wild. Orangutans have been observed making simple tools to scratch themselves. They also use leafy branches to shelter themselves from rain and sun, and sometimes even drape large leaves over themselves like a poncho. They have also been observed using branches as tools during insect foraging, honey collection, and protection against stinging insects, and to “fish” for branches or fruit that is out of reach. In Sumatra wild orangutans use tools to extract seeds from a hard-shelled species of fruit. In captivity an orangutan was taught to chip a stone handaxe. Orangutans also possess culture, something that was considered unique in humans. In parts of Borneo, for example, orangutans use handfuls of leaves as napkins to wipe their chins while orangutans in parts of Sumatra use leaves as gloves, helping them handle spiny fruits and branches, or as seat cushions in spiny trees. These apes will use medicinal plants to heal themselves. A notable study of Bornean orangutans documented three females rubbing their bodies with a paste of chewed Dracaena cantleyi plant, which local Indigenous people use to address joint and bone pain, while a Sumatran orangutan self-medicated themselves using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek. Orangutans have even been taught sign language. The most famous example is Chantek, a male hybrid Sumatran/Bornean orangutan who was taught ASL by American anthropologists Lyn Miles and Ann Southcombe. He had a vocabulary of around 150 modified ASL signs, and he also understood spoken English.
Captive orangutans could also be quite the escape artists. For example, after observing a caretaker using keys to lock and unlock the enclosure, and if they are accidentally misplaced, the apes could use the keys to unlock their enclosures and break free. If the scenario occurred with chimpanzees, they would just treat the keys like a toy. Many scientists have regarded orangutans to be more intelligent than our closest living cousins. Even anthropologist, Jeffrey H. Schwartz, argued that orangutans share significantly more morphological similarities to humans than does any other great ape, and that humans might have shared a common ancestor with orangs than with chimps, despite the evidence that we share 99% of our DNA with the latter.
Orangutans have been featured in literature and art since at least the 18th century, particularly in works that comment on human society. An orangutan was made the murderous antagonist in Edgar Allan Poe's short story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The most well-known orangutan in cinema and animation is King Louie from Walt Disney's The Jungle Book, who aspires to become human by learning fire from Mowgli while being a fun, entertaining character. Orangs were even featured in Planet of the Apes, as bureaucrats like Dr. Zaius, the science minister. Primatologist Birutė Galdikas is leading authority on orangutans, just as Jane Goodall is on chimpanzees. She studied orangutans for the next four years and developed her PhD thesis for UCLA. Galdikas became an outspoken advocate for orangutans and the preservation of their rainforest habitat.
Unfortunately, despite being closely related to them, orangutans face extinction due to us. Human activities have caused severe declines in populations and ranges. Threats to wild orangutan populations include poaching (for bushmeat and retaliation for consuming crops), as well as the illegal pet trade, which mother orangs are killed, and their babies are sold as pets. The biggest threat is habitat destruction and deforestation. The orangutan's forest home in both Borneo and Sumatra are torn down in place of palm oil plantations! Experts estimates that, without drastic interventions, orangutans could become extinct in as little as 20 YEARS!
Several conservation and rehabilitation organizations are dedicated to the survival of orangutans in the wild. The largest of these is the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation, founded by conservationist Willie Smits and which operates projects such as the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Program founded by conservationist Lone Drøscher Nielsen. The work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation has appeared in a number of documentaries, including Orangutan Island, which focuses on a group of orphaned orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Center that are raised to go against their normally independent nature and instead cooperate and live together in a society so they can be left to live wild on their protected island. I wrote a detailed treatise about the show and the young apes' behavior for extra credit when I took physical anthropology.
International Orangutan Day draws attention to the plight of the orangutans and spurs action towards their conservation. This day emerged from the concerted efforts of various global organizations, including World Orangutan Events and Orangutan Outreach, who share a commitment to ensuring the survival of these remarkable creatures. The day is set against a backdrop of critical threats to orangutans. It is primarily due to deforestation, the illegal wildlife trade, and habitat destruction caused by the expansion of palm oil plantations and logging activities. This day serves as a rallying call for people around the world to contribute toward safeguarding the orangutans’ future, promoting awareness of sustainable palm oil consumption, and urging corporations to adopt practices that are friendly to orangutan habitats.
To celebrate International Orangutan Day, people are encouraged to learn more about these magnificent creatures, their lifestyle, and the challenges they face. Donations to conservation organizations can make a big difference, as can spreading the word about the importance of protecting orangutans and their environment. Simple actions like reducing palm oil consumption or adopting an orangutan through a conservation program can also contribute significantly. It’s all about raising awareness and taking steps to ensure these ‘people of the forest’ remain a part of our world.
In Wild Kratts, Bornean orangutans appeared so far. The Kratts Brothers went in search for them in the Bornean rainforests. At the same time, Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy swung on some vines, until they became excruciatingly sore. They called for the Kratts to return with the first-aid kit for a specific medicine in the kit to relieve their sores. The brothers tried to head back to the Tortuga when a huge male orangutan grabbed Chris by his head, and tossed him, and then Martin, to a mother orangutan and her baby. The brothers observed how the mother taught her child to eat ripen fruit. Aviva called again, demanding that the brothers returned to the Tortuga. But when the brothers tried to leave again, the same male orangutan grabbed them by his feet and tossed them back to the same location, much to Martin's curiosity. Martin decided to name the orangutan that tossed them back Huge-O. The brothers then noticed that orangutans also get sore from swinging. After Aviva called Chris and Martin a third time, they tried to sneak back to the Tortuga, Huge-O tossed the brothers to the exact same location, where they saw the mother orangutan mash some dracaena leaves inside her mouth, mashing them into a paste, pouring the liquid out and rubbed it on her baby's arms, relieving the soreness. With this information, they grabbed some of the leaves and started to head back. And Huge-O allowed them to pass after seeing the dracaena leaves in their hands. By the time the brothers returned, Chris crushed the leaves with a leaf press, and the crew rubbed the liquid on their skin, eventually relieving them of their soreness. Meanwhile, the Wild Kratts' archenemy and evil robotics inventor, Zac Varmitech, ordered his Zachbots to chop down every tree in the forest until they found one with black wood for a side table. Fortunately, Aviva made for the Kratt Brothers their own Orangutan Power discs. With help from Huge-O, the brothers destroyed the Zachbots with their super orangutan strength, and Huge-O tossed Zac into a river. So, the orangutans are saved! And let us continue saving them from extinction. Here's to the Red Ape!
Wild Kratts created by Chris and Martin Kratt and owned by PBS Kids
Huge-O and background by me