A glimpse into the family tree: here’s your cousin, the Bornean Orangutan.
Humans belong to the family Hominidae, also known as the great apes. So, if anyone ever calls you “a stupid ape”, you can at least reply “Hey! I’m not stupid!”.
Our family is made up of four sub-groups, each of which is called a genus. These are: gorilla, pan, homo, and pongo.
Each of those groups is, in turn, made up of individual species. I bet you can guess who’s in the gorilla genus. That’s right: gorillas. There are two species, eastern and western.
What about the pan genus? That also contains two species: chimpanzee and bonobo.
You are probably quite familiar with the genus homo. It once contained many species of human – including neanderthal – but today there is only one species left: homo sapiens. If you’re reading this, you are most likely a homo sapiens. Pleased to meet you.
The fourth genus is pongo, which I’m sure you’ll agree has by far the best name. This includes three species: Tapanuli orangutan, Sumatran orangutan and Bornean orangutan. Though it may be tempting to think so, their name has nothing to do with their orangey colour. It comes from the Malay words “orang” (“person”) and “utan” (“forest”). They are the people of the forest, just like we are the people of everywhere else.
Like all great apes, orangutans are incredibly intelligent. They make and use tools, and build fresh nests each night to sleep in. They are more solitary than most other apes and live in immediate family groups, or entirely alone.
One of my most memorable wildlife encounters was with a mother and baby Bornean orangutan. The mother was teaching her son which fruit to eat, but he kept getting it wrong. He would screw up his face in response to the sourness, throwing the unripe fruit to the ground in annoyance. His mother would patiently pull a fresh, ripe fruit from the tree to show him instead.
The orangutan in this picture is just a little older than that, and clearly has a better idea of what’s good to eat – you can see traces of the last snack just hanging out of her mouth (hey, we’ve all been there).
Orangutan, Borneo
