Book 11, Question 69
Why Do Orangutan Moms Stay with Young So Long?
Orangutan moms stay with their young for so long because there is a lot to learn! Orangutans live in the treetops, and life up there is complicated. Mom is the main teacher.
More fun facts
- Young orangutans usually stay with their mothers for around seven years.
- Orangutans are weaned around age six or seven.
- Sumatran orangutan mothers often wait at least eight years between babies.
- Young orangutans must learn about hundreds of kinds of fruit, where to find them and how to open them.
- They start learning to build nests when they are just a few months old.
- Scientists measured a trace element called barium, which passes from mother's milk into young orangutans' bodies, to learn how long they nurse.
Sources: Science News Explores, Smithsonian, National Geographic
Questions kids ask
Why do orangutans need so long to grow up?
They have lots to learn, like finding hundreds of fruits and building nests.