al dimorphism among the orangutans. Females weigh only half as much as the males. Being lighter, females and juveniles often stay in the trees. Not only is there a noticeable difference in size, but males also possess quite a few different characteristics than female orangutans do. For example, males have big cheek pads and facial hair that resembles a man’s moustache and beard. The numbers or orangutans have recently dropped tremendously owing to loss of habitat to deforestation and the killing of females for their young, to be sold as pets or zoo animals. Fewer than 30,000 individuals are believed to remain in the wild, and the species is listed as endangered (Galdkias, 1987)In relation to my observation, the orangutans acted very similar in captivity as if they were in the wild. The space was limited, but for what they had to work with, they displayed many of the behaviors they would have given they were in the wild. I noticed that the males remained solitary, as proven in my research. In one instance, Kiko approached his sister and they groomed for a short amount of time, and Kiko went into a different section of the enclosure and remained by himself until the end of my observation. Junior, the dominating male, and father of Kiko, also stayed confined to himself. There was absolutely no interaction between Junior and the other orangutans. At one point of the observation, Junior showed a display of anger, sort of proving his dominance and went into the corner to set up a small, grounded nest. There were many displays shown throughout the thirty- minute time frame. As stated above, Junior was angry because he was woken up by the commotion of the visitors, and began to throw the plastic barrel around. This might also relate to the social structure of a typical orangutan community. The males show aggression when their home feels threatened by another living thing and that would explain his irritation with the crowd...
