Monday, June 06, 2011

Rare sighting of orang-utan taking a dip in crocodile infested river

In the Jungle Book, orangutan King Louis wanted nothing more than to be like me and you-oo-oo.

And these kings of the swimmers seem to have the same ambition – diving into pools and even fishing for their tea.

The pictures have amazed experts, who have long believed the apes to be scared of water.

But for these two, named Sif and Menteng, not even the threat of crocodiles is enough to keep them home and dry.

The behaviour was witnessed at an orangutan reserve in Indonesian Borneo, by Canadian professor Anne Russon, 64, who has studied the animals since 1989.

She said: 'They're sinkers and they know it, which is why they're very cautious anyway.

'Sif is a real water baby and she'd only try this if she was entirely confident she could reach her target without sinking.

'She uses it for serious purposes like crossing wide bodies of water too deep for wading, but could play in water for more than half an hour.

'Menteng has very advanced skills and in these pictures you see him picking a large fish out and inspecting it.

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