Why orangutans are introverts (sometimes)

In the world of humanoid monkeys, orangutans could be called loners. Of the four species of monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos live in Africa, and orangutans are the only ones found in Asia. And unlike their relatives, who prefer to walk on the ground, orangutans spend almost all their lives on trees. Their long powerful arms, which can reach 2 meters in length, are ideal for swinging and jumping from branch to branch, and their legs are more like hands in terms of dexterity and grip. But that also makes them awkward on earth. Perhaps this way of life in a certain sense influenced the fact that orangutans prefer loneliness and rarely gather in flocks.

Involuntarily loners

Besides physical and geographical differences, many orangutans are indeed far less social than their African counterparts. While chimpanzees are well known for their complex social interactions, orangutans tend to stay apart. Although recent studies show that in reality, pleasant guys who are not averse to throwing a party with their company are actually orangutans in their souls - just the conditions for it should be appropriate.

For example, in childhood, orangutans spend a lot of time with their mother: she takes care of the offspring until the kids are 7-8 years old. This is one of the longest periods of the relationship between mother and child in the animal kingdom. When an orangutan becomes very large and leaves his mother, he lives alone rather because of high food needs and limited resources. Judge for yourself: the growth of orangutans is from 1.25 to 1.5 meters, females weigh from 30 to 50 kilograms, and males weigh from 50 to 90 kilograms. To find enough food, monkeys are scattered throughout the jungle, they simply do not have time and opportunity to get together.

A full belly to loneliness is deaf

Many scientists recognize that, most likely, orangutans should be called social loners, that is, in case of mitigation of circumstances, they can gather in groups.

To reaffirm this fact, the researchers observed how orangutans use tools and signals - that is, what they need to learn, and this in turn requires close social interaction. Signals varied between different groups of populations, indicating that knowledge was transmitted culturally and not just acquired individually or congenitally.

Also in the swamp forest in the north of Sumatra, a group of orangutans was discovered, whose members were as sociable as chimpanzees. It turns out that when orangutans live in a place where they do not need to compete for food, they do not mind communicating in large groups. This swamp recorded the highest density of orangutans in the entire history of observations.

So the orangutans are not introverts, just for a good party they need a rich treat.