Animal Photos: Orangutan and otter families make friends
- Published
Pairi Daiza Zoo in Domaine du Cambron, Belgium, has shared some amazing photos of a blossoming friendship between a family of orangutans and their otter neighbours. It is part of a program designed to maintain the primates' wellbeing in captivity. Orangutan populations are threatened by palm oil plantations in their native Borneo and Sumatra.
As part of the program, a family of Asian small-clawed otters were allowed to live in the river that runs through the enclosure housing the orangutan family: 24-year-old father Ujian, 15-year-old mother Sari and Berani, their three-year-old son. These two look like they're enjoying a fun game of hide and seek!
This looks like a zoo school is going on! We hope the lessons aren't about swinging from ropes or tree vines. The orangutan family arrived at the zoo in 2017. Another two orangutans also live there: Gempa, a male, and Sinta, a female.
"Fancy a treat?" According to zoo spokesman Mathieu Goedefroy, the otters really enjoy getting out of the water and onto the orangutan island to go and play with their furry friends. He added that Berani and Ujian have developed a particularly strong bond with their neighbours.
Zookeepers say orangutans share 97% of their DNA with humans and as a result require a lot of attention and activities to keep them occupied. Staff entertain them all day long with mind games, riddles, puzzles, and other brainy stuff to train their intelligence.
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