Indonesian Conservation Media Center

Orangutans’ Behavior

Orangutans live solitary and do not group together like other great apes. The behaviors are different between the orangutans that live in the wild and never have any contact with human and that of orangutans that have already had interactions with human. According to Knott (1998), orangutans use 44% of their time to rest, 41% to feed, 13% to move (mobilize), 2% for building nests, and less than 1% for other activities.

A. Feeding Habit

            The time spent for feeding is different between males and females. Female orangutans use more of their time to feed than to rest, compared to the males (Vogel & friends. in Wich, 2009)). According to Vogel & friends (2009) in Wich (2009), there is no significant difference in the length of time used for feeding between young males and adult males. However, the difference in the average of length between age classes is quite significant. Adult male orangutans use more time to feed compared to the young male orangutans.

B. Moving (Mobilization)

Male orangutans in Kalimantan move in the forest floor more often. According to Thorpe (2009), Orangutans (Pongo pygmeaus wurmbii) in Tanjung Putting move or mobilize in the forest floor in long journeys. Orangutans will group together, in which individuals will organize movements from one food sources and another for several days (Cawthon, 2005). They only do this when the fruit density is high, with one group consisting only of several orangutans.

C. Playing

      Playing behaviors according to Morrogh-Bernard (2002) in Dellatore (2007) are behaviors shown by orangutans in forms of swinging in trees or playing in the forest floor.

D. Mating

      Female orangutan let themselves be approached by adult males when they are fertile. Female orangutans usually refuse to mate with certain males that she dislikes. (Atmoko & friends. in Wich, 2009). As young as three years old, both males and females show interests in sexual behavior (Atmoko & friends. in Wich, 2009). Besides that, males compete each other to get a female. Adult males are so intolerant to each other and they will produce a long sound that functions as a signal to create distances between males, and also to locate females. Meanwhile, young males cannot attract females’ attention by producing sounds, but they have to actively search for females.

E. Nesting

      Nesting is one unique behavior of one of these world great apes. Nests function as a place for sleeping or perhaps only for resting. According to Vogel & friends in Wich, 2009, all grown up orangutans build nests. Usually orangutans will build new nests on trees, but sometimes they will use their old nests by restoring or modifying them, whether used as day or night nests. Day nests are usually simpler and used only once. Sometimes nests are used as a place for playing or mating.

F. Resting

      According to Knott (1998), orangutans use 41% of their time to rest. This resting behavior according to Morrogh-Bernard (2002) in Dellatore (2007) is the moment in which orangutans do not do activities and are not moving or mobilizing.
Orangutan behaviors is probably one thing which can be said to be relatively easy to learn compared to that of other primates. As one kind of ‘Big Apes’, they have a mobility which is not so high. By learning orangutans’ behaviors, it is hoped that we can improve our understanding about them. Besides that, we can also do a conservation effort that can combine orangutans and the local people.