orangutans

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Orangutan Gets Breastfeeding Assist From Human Moms

Dublin Zoo recruited dozens of mothers with newborns to show Mujur what to do with her baby

(Newser) - Every new mom could use a lactation consultant to help things along with breastfeeding—even Mujur, a 19-year-old orangutan at Ireland's Dublin Zoo who hasn't had much success in the past. Per the BBC , Mujur has given birth twice before, in 2019 and 2022, but she "did...

Orangutan Seems to Treat Wound With Medicinal Plant

It's the first documentation of a wild animal applying a strong treatment directly to injury

(Newser) - An orangutan appeared to treat a wound with medicine from a tropical plant in what is being described as a scientific first. Scientists observed the animal pluck and chew up leaves of a medicinal plant used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation, the AP reports. The...

Ability to Joke Isn't Exclusive to Humans
Humans Aren't the Only
Jokers on the Planet
NEW STUDY
Feb 15, 2024 8:46 AM CST

Humans Aren't the Only Jokers on the Planet

Teasing apes suggest 'cognitive prerequisites for joking' evolved at least 13M years ago

(Newser) - You would think poking or slapping a great ape would be ill-advised. But the young chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans who tease their adult counterparts are rarely met with aggression. That's because, according to a new study, even great apes know when a joke is a joke. Researchers analyzed...

Denver Zoo Needed a Paternity Test. They Got a Famous Expert

Maury Povich announces father of 4-month-old orangutan Siska, to great fanfare

(Newser) - Maury Povich has shifted into retirement mode in recent years—he wrapped up his talk show in 2022, and he was recently presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys—but his services are apparently still in demand. At least at the Denver Zoo, which recruited the 84-year-old...

For First Time, Non-Humans Get COVID Vaccine
9 Great Apes Get
COVID Vaccine
Mar 5, 2021 12:07 AM CST

9 Great Apes Get COVID Vaccine

They're the first non-humans to get vaccinated

(Newser) - The San Diego Zoo has vaccinated nine great apes for the coronavirus after a troop of gorillas in its Safari Park became infected, the AP reports. Officials say four orangutans and five bonobos received COVID-19 injections in January and February, making them the first non-humans to get vaccinated against the...

No, This Is Not Legit Carry-On Luggage

Russian busted trying to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Bali in his luggage

(Newser) - In theory, Russian tourist Andrei Zhestkov's plan to smuggle an orangutan out of Bali was ... not great. In execution, it ended exactly as you might expect: With airport scanners somehow failing to miss the 2-year-old sleeping primate in his luggage, and Zhestkov facing smuggling charges that could net him...

'Very Confident' Albino Orangutan Returns to Jungle

Alba was rescued from a village last year

(Newser) - The world's only known albino orangutan climbed trees, foraged for food, and began building a nest after being released into a remote Borneo jungle more than a year after conservation officials found her starving and dehydrated in an Indonesian village. The Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation says the great ape,...

Oldest Sumatran Orangutan Dies, Leaves 'Incredible Legacy'

Puan, longtime resident of Australia's Perth Zoo, had 54 descendants around the world

(Newser) - Australia knew her as the "Grand Old Lady" of Perth Zoo, and the world, via Guinness World Records , knew her as the oldest known Sumatran orangutan on Earth. Sadly, Puan had been suffering of late from age-related issues, and so she was euthanized on Monday at the age of...

Great Ape, Extinct Lion Among Top New Species

Several endangered species among top finds over past year

(Newser) - It's understandable that a fish in the deepest spot on Earth would escape human notice for millennia. How a great ape managed the same feat is less clear, though both are now included in a list of the top 10 of 18,000 new species discovered over the past...

Borneo Lost Nearly 150K Orangutans in Just 16 Years

That's more orangutans than there are left on the island

(Newser) - The future looks bleak for the world's orangutans following the release this week of a study that found Borneo lost approximately 148,500 orangutans—more than half its orangutan population—between 1999 and 2015. “I expected to see a fairly steep decline, but I did not anticipate it...

This Is the Longest-Nursing of Any Primate
This Is the
Longest-Nursing
of Any Primate
study says
May 18, 2017 9:59 AM CDT

This Is the Longest-Nursing of Any Primate

Orangutans set a record, researchers find

(Newser) - Orangutans nurse their young for up to eight years or longer, a new study finds—a record for primates. As National Geographic notes, it's difficult to study orangutans in the wild since they're so often out of sight in trees, but it's important for conservationists to know...

Internet Picks Name for Albino Orangutan

It's not 'Orangutan McOrangutanface'

(Newser) - A rare albino orangutan rescued from captivity in a Borneo village has been given a new name with the help of online suggestions—and remarkably, it isn't "Orangutan McOrangutanface." The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, which received thousands of suggestions, says the 5-year-old female will be called "...

What to Get a Pregnant Orangutan? Zoo Starts Registry

For that primate who has everything

(Newser) - A Texas zoo has set up a gift registry for an expectant orangutan couple, complete with bubble bath and a Dolly Parton CD. The Cameron Park Zoo in Waco is requesting several items for Mei and KJ on the Target registry, reports the AP , which also includes the movie Zootopia,...

Wild Orangutans Now Critically Endangered

Borneo population added to red list

(Newser) - A global conservation group says Borneo's orangutans are now a critically endangered species due to hunting and destruction of forest habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates the number of Bornean orangutans has dropped by nearly two-thirds since the early 1970s and will further decline to 47,...

Chimps Are More Advanced Than Us in One Specific Way

Their hands have evolved more dramatically than humans'

(Newser) - Consider yourself more advanced than a chimpanzee? When it comes to your hands, at least, you might be wrong. American and Spanish researchers who studied the hands of chimps, orangutans, humans, as well as those of human ancestors and ancient apes, say a chimp’s hands have evolved significantly since...

Court: Orangutan Has Human Rights

Argentina's Sandra wins case to leave zoo

(Newser) - Weeks after a court in New York denied a chimpanzee human rights , a similar case in Argentina has been found in an orangutan's favor. Sandra the orangutan has lived in a Buenos Aires zoo for 20 years, frequently avoiding people coming to see her. Animal rights lawyers filed a...

Apes Suffer Midlife Misery, Too
 Another 
 Midlife-Crisis 
 Victim: Apes 
STUDY SAYS
Nov 20, 2012 3:21 AM CST

Another Midlife-Crisis Victim: Apes

Slump in happiness mirrors that in humans

(Newser) - While you won't find them buying sports cars or having affairs with their biographers, apes are just as susceptible to midlife crises as their human counterparts, a new study claims. Researchers questioned the keepers of hundreds of captive orangutans and chimpanzees and found that just like with humans, the...

Medical Chimp-Testing May Be Over

Congress reviewing bill to ban all ape testing

(Newser) - Chimpanzees: valuable test subjects, or caged relatives who deserve better treatment? With a ban on all ape-testing now in Congress, the controversial practice dating back to the 1920s may soon be over, the New York Times reports. “Now is the time to get these chimps out of invasive research...

No More Cigarettes for Smoking Orangutan

'Shirley' forced to quit cigarettes before move to new wildlife center

(Newser) - A chain-smoking orangutan who achieved notoriety when she became a symbol of Malaysia's horrid zoo conditions has been forced to quit her tobacco habit, reports the AP . The 20-year-old orangutan, Shirley, would smoke lit cigarettes thrown to her by zoo visitors. But now Malaysian wildlife officials have removed her...

Girl Scouts: Thin Mints Killing Orangutans' Home

Duo protests cookies' palm oil recipe

(Newser) - America's cookie buyers shouldn't have to choose between buying Girl Scout cookies and saving orangutans, say a pair of Michigan girl scouts leading calls for the organization to change its recipe. Seventh graders Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva, who have rallied Girl Scout troops across the country and...

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