Orangutans mostly eat ripe fruit, young leaves and bark of trees, honey, insects, will not refuse from bird eggs. One of the preferred products is the durian fruit. In some areas, orangutans sometimes eat soil, thus absorbing minerals that can possibly neutralize the large amount of toxic tannic acids produced as a result of the vegetarian diet. Thirsty forest people gather moisture on the leaves of trees, or, licking raindrops off their wool.
On the orangutans, the opinion was formed that they prefer a solitary way of life. And indeed, sexually mature males are quite intolerant and aggressive towards other adult males. The so-called long call (“long call”), which publishes mature male self-confident, forces the weaker and younger to stay away. But females are more tolerant to each other, and sometimes they create a so-called “women’s club” in which mothers – orangutans with babies of approximately the same age gather. In truth, there is no special need to gather in large groups, orangutans do not. They do not need to fight for their lives together, because their main enemies – the Sumatran tiger and the leopard can not climb high on the trees and therefore harm them.
The female orangutan is considered the best mother among the primates, she will protect her cub until the last and separate the baby from the mother with only the last life. The first litter appears when the female reaches the age of 15 to 16 years. A child under 5 years of age may be breastfeeding, and up to 8 – 10 years old live next to the mother. Such a long relationship between the mother and the offspring is rare among mammals.
