- Just like humans, when it comes to raising children, the mother orangutan will always carry her baby wherever she goes. The close relationship between child and mother will continue for 7-8 years, before the child lives independently in the wild. This is why orangutan cubs should never be separated from their mothers.
- The 8 year period is the time needed for young orangutans to acquire skills through social transmission, learning and imitation.
- The age period of 4-7 years is a very important period for orangutan children in developing independent feeding skills.
- In Indonesia, in various joint rescue operations by the authorities, baby orangutans are generally found separated from their mothers. The baby orangutans that were rescued were then placed in a rehabilitation center.
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| This is the reason why orangutan children should not be separated from their mothers |
Trafficking and poaching of orangutans still occurs in Indonesia. Orangutan babies or children are often the main targets of criminals.
For example, in Medan, North Sumatra, towards the end of 2023, officers succeeded in confiscating two five-month-old baby orangutans from illegal animal traffickers. Criminals usually use violent methods when capturing babies or taking orangutan children.
In fact, hunters will not hesitate to kill the mother orangutan first, then take the child to be traded. In many cases, babies taken for pet purposes die.
In fact, just like humans, when it comes to raising children, the mother orangutan will always carry her baby wherever she goes. The close relationship between child and mother will continue for 7-8 years, before the child lives independently in the wild. This is why orangutan children must be with their mothers.
“Baby orangutans remain dependent on their mothers for around 7 to 8 years and during that time the mothers will not have any more children. "This period is the longest among all types of great apes," said Sophie Kirklin, an orangutan researcher from the Borneo Nature Foundation in her report.
Regarding this period, according to him, there are two theories that can explain why this happened. Firstly , orangutans are semi-solitary, meaning that they live alone and not in social groups due to the distribution and density of food available in the forest . There are not enough resources to support a group of orangutans in the same area.
However, there is a hypothesis regarding the solitary lifestyle, that the orangutan's habitat can only support one mother and one developing cub. If another child is born, there will not be enough food. So, as long as the baby cannot feed itself and needs to share resources with its mother then the mother cannot have a second child at the same time.
The second theory , said Sophie, is the skills learning hypothesis. This theory states that the skills needed to live and survive in the forest are numerous, so the 8 year period is the time needed for young orangutans to acquire these skills, through social transmission, learning and imitation.
Baby behavior or naughty
Research conducted by Renata S. Mendonca, et al , in the journal Primates 2016, regarding Kalimantan orangutans, explains that when the mother feeds, the baby has the opportunity to learn how and what to eat by observing it from a closer distance. The age period of 4-7 years is a very important time in forming independent eating skills.
“We found that babies' feeding time increases rapidly from 1 to 3 years of age. Four-year-old orangutan cubs can process most of the same food as their mothers, and maternal food sharing decreases,” the researchers wrote.
In the report entitled " Development and behavior of wild-infant-juvenile East Bornean orangutans [Pongo pygmaeus moreo] in Danum Valley " it is explained that when the mother's travel time increases, so do her offspring. Orangutan cubs begin to travel more independently while following their mothers from the age of 3 years.
However, the mother's rest time does not determine her offspring's rest time; On the other hand, mother's rest time is a good time for her children to play.
“Maternal rest time allows offspring to explore the environment and engage in solitary or social activities, depending on the presence of a suitable partner,” the researchers said.
The results of the study also showed that the tendency of orangutan cubs to remain close to their mothers increased as the cubs got older. However, when the child becomes more independent and does not need the mother's care as much, the mother leaves her child more often or rarely approaches her child.
"In this way, the mother slowly begins to break contact, and the cub adapts to the mother's behavior," explained the report.
In Indonesia, in various joint rescue operations by the authorities, baby orangutans are generally found separated from their mothers. The baby orangutans that were rescued were then placed in a rehabilitation center. Each rescued orangutan is required to enter quarantine first, then join Forest School to learn to live in the wild.
As fruit eaters, orangutans are effective seed dispersing agents to ensure forest regeneration. In Indonesia, there are three types of orangutans, namely the Kalimantan orangutan [ Pongo pygmaeus ] , the Sumatran orangutan [ Pongo abelii ] , and the Tapanuli orangutan [ Pongo tapanuliensis ].
All types of orangutans are protected under the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. P.106 of 2018 concerning Protected Plant and Animal Types. Meanwhile, according to the IUCN , these three types of orangutans are on the red list with Critically Endangered (CR) status, or one step towards extinction in the wild.