Expressions by ucumari on Flickr.
Every week we look at a different endangered species.
Week of Jan.6-Jan.12
The name Orangutan means “man of the forest” in the Malay language. There are 2 species of Orangutan. Bornean and Sumatran, and they only differ a little in appearance and behavior. They are endangered, combined there is about 48500 left in the wild.
Fun Facts:
- Orangutans can weigh up to 200 pounds.
- They share 96.4% of their genes with humans!
- They are highly intelligent creatures.
- They are the “gardeners of the forest”
- A mother only gives birth every 3-5 years.
Much of the decline of the species is due to their slow reproductive rate, as well as, deforestation, hunting and illegal trade of young, and illegal trade of orangutan skull.
Pepper would have been 43 years old today. She passed away this summer on June 27th. She is greatly missed here at Fauna, especially by her best friend Sue Ellen.
![BBC:
Great apes may have ‘mid-life crisis’, a study suggests
Chimpanzees and orangutans may experience a “mid-life crisis” like humans, a study suggests.
An international team of researchers assessed the well-being and happiness of the great apes.
They found well-being was high in youth, fell to a low in midlife and rose again in old age, similar to the “U-shape curve” of happiness in humans.
The study brought together experts such as psychologists, primatologists and economists.
Results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“What we are testing is whether the U-shaped curve can describe the association between age and well-being in non-human primates as it does in humans,” psychologist and lead author Dr Alexander Weiss of the University of Edinburgh told BBC Nature.
Dr Weiss hoped the results would show a similar curve because of the close relationship between humans, chimpanzees and orangutans.
The study showed that male and female humans, chimpanzees and orangutans have the same U-shaped curve despite differences in social roles, and the phenomenon is therefore not uniquely human.
Testing times
The sample subjects included 508 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and orangutans (Pongo sp.) of varying ages, from zoos, sanctuaries and research centres.
They were assessed by zoo keepers, volunteers, researchers and caretakers who had worked with the primate subject for at least two years and knew its behaviour.
The animals were numerically scored for well-being and happiness on a short questionnaire, which was based on a human well-being model but modified for use in non-human primates.
Dr Weiss said that the similarities between humans, chimps and orangutans go beyond genetics and physiology.
For example, chimpanzees face similar social pressures and stress factors to humans.
“You don’t have the chimpanzee hitting mid-life and suddenly they want a bright red sports car,” explained Dr Weiss.
“But there may be other things that they want like mating with more females or gaining access to more resources.”
Co-author Andrew Oswald, professor of economics at the University of Warwick, has researched human happiness for 20 years.
“One of the reasons we decided to look at ape data was that when you study humans, that U-shape is exactly the same when you adjust statistically for things like education, income and marriage.
For Prof Oswald it was “quite mind-blowing… to find it in apes”.
e concluded that “the mid-life crisis is real and it exists in… our closest biological relatives, suggesting that it is probably explained by biology and physiology”.
The bigger picture
Psychologist Dr Weiss said that this research opens a lot of doors.
He explained that for a long time this kind of mid-life crisis was considered something specific to human society and human lives.
“And what [this study] says is that it may be a part of the picture, but it’s clearly not all of the picture.
“We have to look deeper into our evolutionary past and that of the common ancestors that we share with chimpanzees, orangutans and other apes.”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdsnwwtCeu1qemq8qo1_500.jpg)
BBC:
Great apes may have ‘mid-life crisis’, a study suggests
Chimpanzees and orangutans may experience a “mid-life crisis” like humans, a study suggests.
An international team of researchers assessed the well-being and happiness of the great apes.
They found well-being was high in youth, fell to a low in midlife and rose again in old age, similar to the “U-shape curve” of happiness in humans.
The study brought together experts such as psychologists, primatologists and economists.
Results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“What we are testing is whether the U-shaped curve can describe the association between age and well-being in non-human primates as it does in humans,” psychologist and lead author Dr Alexander Weiss of the University of Edinburgh told BBC Nature.
Dr Weiss hoped the results would show a similar curve because of the close relationship between humans, chimpanzees and orangutans.
The study showed that male and female humans, chimpanzees and orangutans have the same U-shaped curve despite differences in social roles, and the phenomenon is therefore not uniquely human.
Testing times
The sample subjects included 508 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and orangutans (Pongo sp.) of varying ages, from zoos, sanctuaries and research centres.
They were assessed by zoo keepers, volunteers, researchers and caretakers who had worked with the primate subject for at least two years and knew its behaviour.
The animals were numerically scored for well-being and happiness on a short questionnaire, which was based on a human well-being model but modified for use in non-human primates.
Dr Weiss said that the similarities between humans, chimps and orangutans go beyond genetics and physiology.
For example, chimpanzees face similar social pressures and stress factors to humans.
“You don’t have the chimpanzee hitting mid-life and suddenly they want a bright red sports car,” explained Dr Weiss.
“But there may be other things that they want like mating with more females or gaining access to more resources.”
Co-author Andrew Oswald, professor of economics at the University of Warwick, has researched human happiness for 20 years.
“One of the reasons we decided to look at ape data was that when you study humans, that U-shape is exactly the same when you adjust statistically for things like education, income and marriage.
For Prof Oswald it was “quite mind-blowing… to find it in apes”.
e concluded that “the mid-life crisis is real and it exists in… our closest biological relatives, suggesting that it is probably explained by biology and physiology”.
The bigger picture
Psychologist Dr Weiss said that this research opens a lot of doors.
He explained that for a long time this kind of mid-life crisis was considered something specific to human society and human lives.
“And what [this study] says is that it may be a part of the picture, but it’s clearly not all of the picture.
“We have to look deeper into our evolutionary past and that of the common ancestors that we share with chimpanzees, orangutans and other apes.”
