Essay On Orangutans

Research has stated that animals must be exposed and frequently involved in intense social interaction for facial recognition to occur. However, recent research has suggested that orangutans can differentiate between individuals with much less interaction required. The orangutans spend the majority of their time alone. It is estimated they spend 5% of their time associated in social situations. Additionally, very little is known about how the orangutans recognize faces in specific situations. Are they able to discriminate? Can they recognize faces just as accurate as species who are frequently involved in intense social situations? To find out the facial recognition abilities of these species, the researchers presented the orangutans with …show more content…
The researchers were limited with some stimulus that could potentially skew the data. The pictures shown to the orangutans were unequal and were different for the male and females. Borneo, the male, was shown an image of himself and only was shown two images of subjects seen only once a month through a grid. In comparison, the females were shown subjects they have seen historically every day for the past 10 years. Furthermore, the genders and background of the subjects shown to the orangutans were not identified in the study. This could cause issues, as indicated in the study, Bornean orangutan females are known to spend more time associating with maternal females than with other females. This could hinder the female’s recognition of other females and males unless the sample is maternal itself. In addition to flaws in the data, it is possible that many of the orangutans could be avoiding looking at dominate male faces; causing a whole different interpretation of the data on the sole basis of whether the sample is female or …show more content…
The researchers had mentioned that the results of the orangutan’s ability to recognize historic familiar faces may be shared with humans. However, there is no sufficient evidence presented in this study that suggests such ability. The three participants Gypsy, Julie, and Borneo were all from the Tama Zoological Park; however, since they live in such confined area with a limited population, it is hard to infer from these premises that they possess the same facial recognition abilities as humans. As we know, humans are generally not confined or restricted to a certain population and area. Furthermore, the unidentified samples provided to the orangutans could have provided bias in the results of identifying the subject or not. Thus, inferring such a statement without a sufficient populace, sample size, or evidence is bold. With that being said, the researchers had recognized that further inspection was