“A male
orangutan, clinging precariously to overhanging branches, flails the water with
a pole, trying desperately to spear a passing fish…
The
extraordinary image, a world exclusive, was taken in Borneo on the island of
Kaja…
This
individual had seen locals fishing with spears on the Gohong River.
Although the
method required too much skill for him to master, he was later able to
improvise by using the pole to catch fish already trapped in the locals’
fishing lines.”
This is not
the first recorded incident of tool-use by Orangutans, or primates in general.
The species was first observed using tools in the wild in 1982 – by
anthropologist Biruté Galdikas – in wild Bornean orangutans in the Tanjung
Puting National Park.
Comments
Post a Comment