{"id":52878,"date":"2024-05-17T13:34:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/17\/sumatran-orangutans-start-crafting-their-engineering-skills-as-infants\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T13:34:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:34:11","slug":"sumatran-orangutans-start-crafting-their-engineering-skills-as-infants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/17\/sumatran-orangutans-start-crafting-their-engineering-skills-as-infants\/","title":{"rendered":"Sumatran orangutans start crafting their engineering skills as infants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sumatran<\/div> \r\n

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At six months old, human infants are still working on sitting up by themselves. But baby orangutans at that age are already developing their engineering skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orangutans build complex sleeping platforms as high as 20 meters in the tree canopy \u2014 the equivalent of four stories above the ground \u2014 every single evening. The nests are intricate and can include woven elements, pillows, blankets, padding and roofs to protect from rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But nest building isn\u2019t instinctive to orangutans \u2014 it has to be learned through years of (sometimes hilarious) trial and error that start in infancy<\/a>, researchers report in the May Animal Behaviour<\/em>. The finding could be important for conserving populations of the critically endangered ape<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n