ANDREW HEARN AND JOANNA ROSS
It was previously believed that the endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) spent the majority of its life in the trees, coming down to the ground only when its habitat was disturbed. Now, an international team of researchers has shown that these animals use terrestrial locomotion as part of their natural behavior. The study was published today (February 13) in Scientific Reports.
Investigators collected data from terrestrial camera traps in 16 study locations across Malaysia and Indonesia between 2006 and 2013. They discovered that orangutans spent time on the ground in all the study locations, whether the forests were intact or disturbed by human activities like logging. The traps captured photos of both sexes and all ages of animals, including flanged males, which are fully developed ...
