Can an orangutan swim?

Answer

Dear Josiane,

Although in principle orangutans cannot swim, it has indeed been found that in some populations there are individuals that can still exhibit some kind of swimming behavior. This was observed, among others, by Anne Russon (University of New York) who studied an orangutan population on the island of Kaja (Kalimantan, Indonesia). There the animals did indeed develop new (it is called “innovative”) behavior patterns, including a kind of swimming behaviour. Below you will find a link to the PDF of the scientific article concerned. I’ll send you a few other links as well.

Kind regards,

Thierry Backeljau