The Finger

[Tronhard]

I had sat in the Orangutan enclosure for over an hour, camera ready for a good shot. This was in marked contrast to the normal visitor, who spends a very short amount of time at any one enclosure - not surprising if you have children in tow, mind you.

Still, the Orang obviously was aware of this, and after regarding me thoughtfully for a long moment, it gave me ...
the finger!

Canon EOS R5 • Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM | S @388mm • 1/800 • f/11 • ISO 3200

[pschlute]

Lovely shot of such a noble, thoughtful relative.

[Tronhard]

Looking at the state of the world today, I sometimes feel they are more noble and thoughtful than humans.

Lovely shot of such a noble, thoughtful relative.

[pschlute]

Looking at the state of the world today, I sometimes feel they are more noble and thoughtful than humans.

Completely agree.

[Dave Humphries]

Nice capture Trev
Dave

[ST1]

Lovely image Trev


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tronhard]

Thank you Peter and Dave. It's moments like that which make photography magic.

[lovelife65]

Love this photograph of a beautiful animal, and agree about the state of the world (and "humanity").
Very nicely done Trev

[Rita]

Now that is special

[Tronhard]

Thank you Rita and Sharon!

[Chataignier]

Splendid portrait, but I doubt that they are free from conflict. Evolution by survival of the fittest does not generally favour the meek.

[selig1656]

Super and love the fine details in the face.

[DanK]

a great shot.

True, they aren't very sociable (apart from mother-child bonds) and can be aggressive, but I'd still happily trade some members of the US Congress for this critter.

[Tronhard]

FWIW I have personally found Orangs to be relatively passive creatures.
This article may explain why.

Even with the limited aggression that they display, unlike their 'more evolved ' relatives like chimps and us, they don't seem to want to hunt in packs, wage wars

Splendid portrait, but I doubt that they are free from conflict. Evolution by survival of the fittest does not generally favour the meek.

[Tronhard]

On a hot, sunny morning, one of the females was out and about very close to the windows that allow zoo-goers to observe the creature. She sat for a while and eventually reached out to carefully choose a hanging leaf. She deftly broke the stem and then placed it on her head like a hat. As she enjoyed her breakfast, she would occasionally delicately reach out to adjust the hat and pull it down to shade her eyes. Lovely creatures...


Canon EOS R5, RF 24-240mm@238mm, f/8, 1/250sec, ISO-500

[Manfred M]

These images bring back some wonderful memories of orangutans when we visited Sabah, on Borneo. The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre at Sepilok was great, but one highlight of our trip was when we saw am adolescent orangutan in the wild at Sukau. He stared at us and we stared right back for a few minutes. After he got bored, he climbed out of sight and left us with the memories of the encounter.

[Tronhard]

Hi Manfred:

The Orangs are my favourites at the zoo, I must admit. They have a certain aura of placid wisdom, mixed with gentle demeanour. I know the males can be aggressive when they compete for females, but they are otherwise gentle creatures. I hope to see them in the wild when I feel more comfortable about travelling.

[Manfred M]

Hi Manfred:

The Orangs are my favourites at the zoo, I must admit. They have a certain aura of placid wisdom, mixed with gentle demeanour. I know the males can be aggressive when they compete for females, but they are otherwise gentle creatures. I hope to see them in the wild when I feel more comfortable about travelling.

I hope you get a chance to do so. They are a lot closer to where you live than to where we live.

We were told that they are the most closely related species to humans and that their name translates to "Man of the Forest" in the local dialects on Borneo.