Fun facts about Orangutans

Good day, all! I don’t think I need to introduce myself this time, but in case this is your first visit here, I am Doctor Rose’s little helper, Sasha the tooth-fairy.

As you know (or maybe not yet), Rose recently released her new book ‘Excited Banjo Meets The Superhero Dentist’ which you can read about in last week’s blog. It is the first book in a series called ‘Banjo and the Superhero Dentist’ – a collection of six books (still in production) that will help parents to explain all things dental-related to their children.

Well, today I’ve decided to tell you a bit more about our wonderful character, Banjo the orangutan. The best way for me to do this is to share with you a few fun facts about orangutans!

Fun Facts About Orangutans –

1 - The name ‘orangutan’ comes from the Malay language, meaning ‘person of the forest’.   ‘Orang’ means ‘people’ and ‘hutan’ means ‘forest’.
2 - Orangutans are Great Apes.  Their dental structure closely resembles that of humans, although the males will grow much larger canines to use as weapons of defense. Orangutans have the same number of teeth as humans, which is thirty-two.
3 – Orangutans in the wild can live for as long as forty-five years.
4 – Orangutan babies are taught to depend on trees from the day they are born. They eat, nest, and sleep in trees. This is why they have such long arms and fingers, to help them among the branches.
5 – It’s easy to tell the difference between a male and female orangutan. Males have massive cheeks known as ‘flanges’, whereas the females do not.
6 –Orangutans share 97% of their genetic materials with humans.
7 – Orangutans are classified as vegetarians, but will also eat insects for protein.
8 – Orangutans have been taught to use sign language, can identify themselves in the mirror, have been known to laugh at magic tricks, and can work out a number of complicated problems on their own. They also remember people even if they’ve not seen them in years.
9 – Orangutans have been noted to have an IQ of between 70 and 95, with a normal human IQ being 100.
10 - Orangutans are an endangered species.  Humans drive them from their lands and forests, in order to make palm forests for palm-oil used in foodstuff.

Aren’t they amazing animals; so intelligent and highly emotional (like us fairies, I guess)! It’s such a shame that their habitat is being destroyed to make palm oil for people. Surely there must be another way? Do you have an idea on how palm oil can be cultivated without hurting orangutans or their habitat? If so, please share it with us in the comments below, or on Facebook. I will personally make sure that each good idea is sent to the right organizations, so that they can see just how much the younger generation cares about our Ape cousins.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s blog! I’ll be seeing you on Rose’s Facebook and Twitter pages through the week, until I chat with you again here next Thursday.

Keep shining,
stay magical,
Sasha ~
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Excited Banjo Meets The Superhero Dentist  

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