Introduction
Orangutans spend most of their lives high in the trees; they are seldom seen on the ground. Each night, they build a new nest or add to an old nest to support them while they are sleeping (Caldecott, 2005). Home ranges are typically between 5-25 km for males, and 1-10 km for females (Caldecott, 2005). As you can imagine, orangutans that live in captivity don’t have homes remotely close to those ranges. Not only is it smaller, their enclosures also lack forest canopies for them to inhabit. In the National Zoo there are various elevated ledges and platforms and some small trees, but nothing compared to their natural habitat. How do the orangutans behave in an enclosure that doesn’t have the same climbing options as in the wild? …show more content…
Their natural habitat consists of lowlands and hilly rainforest, as well as fresh water swamps. Orangutans’ inhabit trees and are largely solitary (van Schaik, 2006). They used to be found in South East Asia and the Indochinese Peninsula, but now they are confined to North Sumatra and the lowland of Borneo (van Schaik, 2006). The current distribution of orangutans is determined by two main factors. First, the availability of the preferred fruit and second the presence of humans (Caldecott, 2005). Despite being largely solitary, orangutans have individual and community interactions (Cribb, 2014). The food resources of a forest are limited; this forces animal species to develop their own ecological niche to reduce competition (Caldecott, 2005). Orangutans usually share most of their preferred fruit with about 5 other primate species. All these primates eat fruits and leaves; all are active in the forest canopy but differ in food selection and range size (Caldecott, 2005). Studies have showed that great apes like the orangutan use signals in different sensory domains (Leavens, 2007). Long calls could be used to maintain links with their loosely joined communities. The calls can go over long distances and allow females and juveniles to be aware of the location of the male (Caldecott, …show more content…
Four of them are female and two of them are males (Meet the Orangutans). There are two buildings with both an outdoor enclosure, The Great Ape House and the Think Tanks. The Zoo has a very unique enrichment for the orangutan’s enclosures that is named the O line. The O line allows the orangutans to choose what building they want to spend time in by allowing them to cross over the public by cables (Meet the Orangutans). The orangutans live in small groups or pairs at the Zoo. The two males are not housed together, and the females can choose which group they want to join (Meet the Orangutans).
The created ethogram is based on the behavior of a nineteen-year-old female Orangutan named Batang. She is on a breeding loan from the Brookfield Zoo in the hope that she will breed in the next few years (Meet the Orangutans). Batang has pale skin on her face, and is smaller than the Zoo’s other female orangutans (Meet the Orangutans). I hypothesize that, despite the numerous possibilities to climb and get off the ground, Batang will spend most of her time on the ground. Instantaneous focal sampling with an interval of 30 seconds was used to observe Batang in the Think Tank
Orangutans spend most of their lives high in the trees; they are seldom seen on the ground. Each night, they build a new nest or add to an old nest to support them while they are sleeping (Caldecott, 2005). Home ranges are typically between 5-25 km for males, and 1-10 km for females (Caldecott, 2005). As you can imagine, orangutans that live in captivity don’t have homes remotely close to those ranges. Not only is it smaller, their enclosures also lack forest canopies for them to inhabit. In the National Zoo there are various elevated ledges and platforms and some small trees, but nothing compared to their natural habitat. How do the orangutans behave in an enclosure that doesn’t have the same climbing options as in the wild? …show more content…
Their natural habitat consists of lowlands and hilly rainforest, as well as fresh water swamps. Orangutans’ inhabit trees and are largely solitary (van Schaik, 2006). They used to be found in South East Asia and the Indochinese Peninsula, but now they are confined to North Sumatra and the lowland of Borneo (van Schaik, 2006). The current distribution of orangutans is determined by two main factors. First, the availability of the preferred fruit and second the presence of humans (Caldecott, 2005). Despite being largely solitary, orangutans have individual and community interactions (Cribb, 2014). The food resources of a forest are limited; this forces animal species to develop their own ecological niche to reduce competition (Caldecott, 2005). Orangutans usually share most of their preferred fruit with about 5 other primate species. All these primates eat fruits and leaves; all are active in the forest canopy but differ in food selection and range size (Caldecott, 2005). Studies have showed that great apes like the orangutan use signals in different sensory domains (Leavens, 2007). Long calls could be used to maintain links with their loosely joined communities. The calls can go over long distances and allow females and juveniles to be aware of the location of the male (Caldecott, …show more content…
Four of them are female and two of them are males (Meet the Orangutans). There are two buildings with both an outdoor enclosure, The Great Ape House and the Think Tanks. The Zoo has a very unique enrichment for the orangutan’s enclosures that is named the O line. The O line allows the orangutans to choose what building they want to spend time in by allowing them to cross over the public by cables (Meet the Orangutans). The orangutans live in small groups or pairs at the Zoo. The two males are not housed together, and the females can choose which group they want to join (Meet the Orangutans).
The created ethogram is based on the behavior of a nineteen-year-old female Orangutan named Batang. She is on a breeding loan from the Brookfield Zoo in the hope that she will breed in the next few years (Meet the Orangutans). Batang has pale skin on her face, and is smaller than the Zoo’s other female orangutans (Meet the Orangutans). I hypothesize that, despite the numerous possibilities to climb and get off the ground, Batang will spend most of her time on the ground. Instantaneous focal sampling with an interval of 30 seconds was used to observe Batang in the Think Tank