In Malay and Indonesian orang means “person” and utan is derived from hutan, which means “forest.” Thus, orangutan literally means “person of the forest.”
Orangutans’ arms stretch out longer than their bodies – over two metres from fingertip to fingertip – and are used to employ a “hookgrip”. When on the ground, they walk on all fours, using their palms or their fists, according to the Orangutan Project, a nonprofit organization.
Here are some facts reported by the Orangutan Project:
- When male orangutans reach maturity, they develop large cheek pads, which female orangutans apparently find attractive.
- When males are fighting, they charge at each other and break branches. If that doesn’t scare one of them away, they grapple and bite each other.
- For the first 4-6 years of his/her life, an infant orangutan holds tight to his/her mother’s body as she moves through the forest in search of fruit.
- Like humans, orangutans have opposable thumbs. Their big toes are also opposable.
- Orangutans have tremendous strength, which enables them to swing from branch to branch and hang upside-down from branches for long periods of time to retrieve fruit and eat young leaves.