19th August Orangutan Day

With their expressive faces and personalities, and their close genetic relationship to humans — with about 96% identical genes — orangutans captivate us. The children who use the library are always keen to learn more about them. 

Even older books like Mang by Joan van Loon, Little Tang  by Sally Grindley and Imagine You're an Orangutan by Karen Wallace are still borrowed.

Orangutans are great apes that are only found now in Borneo and Sumatra. They are the most aboreal of all the great apes which means that they spend most of their life in trees. They have proportionally long arms and short legs, and have reddish-brown hair covering their bodies.

Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates. They use sophisticated tools and  construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. 

• Orangutans Build Nests in Trees  by Elizabeth Raum

• Orangutan Hats and Other Tools Animals Use  by Richard Haynes

All three orangutan species are considered critically endangered. The apes' learning abilities have been studied extensively. 

• The Emerald Forest  by Catherine Ward and Karin Littlewood is a new book that is set in tropical Sumatra, an island that has lost almost half of its rainforest cover in recent years. The story graphically describes the reactions of an orangutan family to the destruction of their age-old home, but also shows how wildlife campaigners are bringing hope for the future.

• Saving Urangutans  by Carla Litchfield

• Orangutan Houdini  by Laurel Neme

This is the true story of Fu Manchu, an adult male orangutan, who relishes outsmarting his friend, zookeeper Jerry Stones. He does just that when he escapes his enclosure at will and spends sunny days with the elephants in another part of the zoo. Jerry soon discovers that Fu can open the locked door, but can't figure out how he does it. Read it to find out how.

Of course there's some stories to share as well:

If you can find Pongo  by Jesse Hodgson in your library you are in for a treat. The illustrations are beautiful!