Firstly, a big thank you to Brigiatta for your monthly donation and Maciej for your donation of $100. As you recently visited Tanjung Puting National Park and Camp Leakey this post should hopefully be of interest to you.
In July, we discussed why the orangutan Riga shared her food with her mother, Rani. The reason may be biological or social but what is certain is that it is a rare event between adult orangutans; which is why it was surprising to see it happen again on Sunday – but this time with another twist.
Tom – dominant male
Tom is the undoubted King of Camp Leakey; the dominant male. He doesn’t have to share anything with anybody if he doesn’t want to. On Sunday, he sat down with his bucket of milk and proceeded to slurp away at it with Siswi looking enviously at him. Tut then came up, she had not been to the afternoon feeding so may have been hungry. Tut is Tom’s mother but subordinate to Siswi, so she approached warily.
Tom, however, passed over the bucket without hesitation (and all Siswi could do is continue to look on greedily!).
But what made all this doubly interesting is that it points to an answer to one of the big remaining questions of orangutan research: do they recognise their own parents/offspring? In reality, there is no more reason for Tom to share his milk with Tut than with Siswi (indeed, Tut is not in season but Siswi could be) and yet he did willingly. Why? It would be interesting to think Tom knows his mother and that was why he acted favourably towards her but like so much about orangutan behaviour we still have a lot to learn.
Thank you,
Stephen
PS Apologies for the rain spot on the photo.
Donations made here are
Feb 3rd Matthew K USD 35.00
5 Comments
Stephen — I did not realize it was sort of an assumption that orangs don’t necessarily recongnize their mothers/offspring…is this true with all apes?
I think he knows it is his mother and thinking about it she have given him enough milk over the years to maybe it was only fair he gave some back
thanks for sharing this story and give us all further evidence (if some needed it) regarding the complexity and intelligence (as we know and quantify it) of all primates and other mammals…
This is very interesting, I always thought orangutanes recognize their parents. Guess it’s not for sure.
Hello Stephen. Thank you so much for this story. Poor Siswi, lucky Tut! We hope to come back to Camp Leakey very soon. So Siswi can tell us every thing
I have seen how sadly she can look when there is nothing to eat in the trouser pocket of a little Swiss tourist 
But with Tom it must be worse: He is a such a beautiful King. I gave him the nickname “le beau”.
I would like to send you the Photos we took in July. Can you send me a E-Mail with the post adress?
About recognizing eatch other: My three year old dog, she plays little puppy if she meets her mother. And, happy she is not lissening, Orangs are much more intelligent!
Miss you all! Please give a big hug and a extra banana to pooooor, thin Siswi
Are the orangs drinking cow’s milk? Am I the only one who thinks that’s weird? (I’m vegan, so any species drinking some other species’ milk is just WEIRD.)
I think with any other species I’d find Tom’s generosity odd, but these are apes so I think they deserve wider latitude. Maybe Tom does know that Tut’s his mom and wanted to share. Is there any information about orangs sharing in captivity, where they often stay in a family group?
s.