orangutan goes spear-fishing

[mckitterick]

Because you wouldn't believe me without seeing a photo of it, I hereby present:

Click the image to see the story.

This and other amazing photos appear in the new book, Thinkers of the Jungle. Thanks to james_nicoll for the tip.

Best,
Chris

Comments

[amysisson.livejournal.com]

That is amazing. God, I could spend all day just watching animals. Everything they do fascinates me. (Not so crazy about zoos, though.)

[dungeon-grrrl.livejournal.com]

That is both really, really cool and really, really frightening.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I hear you on all three counts. I have such mixed feelings about zoos: Mostly I feel sad about the animals there, but then I see kids learning and think about how many zoos work toward conservation. Still.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean.

[renegade500.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is a fantastic photo!

[will-couvillier.livejournal.com]

Evolutionists must love things like this.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

What's the thing over the orang's head?

[fortyozspartan.livejournal.com]

The lochness monster! Tree-fiddy!

[fortyozspartan.livejournal.com]

Well, we're really just shaved monkeys who can fling tin cans into outter space, right?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

'Strue.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I'm sure!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Y'know, it looks like a miniature Overlord who is remotely operating the orangutan.

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

hey! i woulda believed it! great pic tho! did you ever see the video of the crow who makes a hook out of a straight wire to get a thingie our of a cylinder?

most amazing thing i've ever seen. if a crow can do it, an orangutan can too!
http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/crow/weirmovie.mov

ETA: the little paragraph that explains it is here:http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/crow/

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

That was my first feeling, too. Gorgeous powerful picture.

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

Wow. I had read about the crows doing this, but have never seen it.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

That's amazing! Thanks for sharing it.

[hdorsettcase.livejournal.com]

I've been reading a book on language and just got through a part on chimps and tools. They said one of the significant differences between humans and other apes in tool-making is that apes will usually use whatever is on hand to make tools then toss it when they're done, while humans will carry a tool around rather than discard it.

[jeanineers.livejournal.com]

You absolutely must ask my dearest about his experiences with orangutan. He has several examples about how smart they are, including a story that includes jam.