Early in the morning when we got to Singapore Zoo, our guide led us straight to the buffet breakfast that we would share with the orangutans. Then he left us there to eat. After half an hour had past a mechanical log moved in the trees allowing the orangutans to come forward making a tree branch as their path. We could then see orangutans coming from everywhere. There were babies on their mothers backs, other young ones climbing and swinging from tree to tree and old slow grandpas. They looked like they were having so much fun. When they reached the viewing platform the zoo keepers fed them bananas and a variety of different fruits. We were allowed to go up close to the animals and have our photos taken, we could have easily touched them but we weren't allowed to disturb them while they were eating.
The zoo keeper then started to tell us some facts about the orangutans saying the average orangutan would have the intelligence of a 5-6 year old. Other facts we learnt were:
- Orangutans can make simple tools using the enviroment around them for hunting and playing.
- That we share 96.4% of our genetics with our fellow friends the orangutans.
- In the past decade the orangutan population has decreased by 90%.
- This is caused by fires or burning off forests, habitat loss, poaching and illegal logging.
- Every year 10,240,000 hectares of rainforest is being cut down. That's 19.5 hectares per minute.
- The orangutans are highly endangered and are almost extint.
I loved the colour and the nature of the orangutans and the fact that we shared our breakfast with them made it feel as amazing as wonderland. This is why the orangutans at Singapore Zoo were my favourite. We also shared breakfast with 2 big colourful macaws and a snake. Mum was very brave and held her first snake in a decade. She absolutely hates snakes, like me!
By Charlotte
