Orangutans are the largest living arboreal animals and weigh between 45 kg to 110 kg! But their movement in the tall trees of the rain-forest is so unique and graceful! Because of their weight and size, they do not leap like Langurs or swing like Gibbons. Instead they move slowly by grasping the next branch with their long forearms and sometimes bending the branch to reach out. But at times they can move surprisingly fast ! In these series of pictures i could capture the movement of a wild mother.. and how she helps her young one to move..specially when the gap between trees is too much for the latter.
In this picture, the mother is lending a helping hand to it's 5 year old young one.
You can see how she is actually forming a bridge between the gap..so that her young one can use her back to cross over!
The young Orangutan is on her mother's back!
The baby has crossed to the other side!
What an amazing behaiviour! You can imagine, the fate of these graceful creatures as their habitat is constantly being destroyed by logging...even a gap in the canopy is so detrimental to them.
Notice how the young one is hanging by it's long forearms and using it's hind legs to grip the branch tightly!
