New research provides unique insight into orangutan reactions to new experiences in the wild. Humans have an innate drive to explore the unknown. When faced with something unfamiliar, our instinct is often to delve deeper and understand it. However, this sentiment doesn't exactly align with the beh
New research provides unique insight into orangutan reactions to new experiences in the wild.
The experiments, conducted in an Indonesian rainforest, uncovered a mix of social, environmental, and age factors that made orangutans more likely to explore. Published in, the study reveals the conditions that spark curiosity in orangutans and sheds light on how our own curious natures might have evolved.
The experimental log being observed by an orangutan during a trial. Credit: N. Oliver-Caldwell / Suaq Project Schuppli realized that testing orangutans’ reaction to novelty in nature would require reimagining the past paradigm. “The challenge was figuring out how to entice them with something that was novel, but also familiar enough not to scare them off,” she says. Over the years Schuppli perfected just such an object: a piece of tree trunk with a natural hole filled with local forest honey.
Says Schuppli: “On the one hand, the results confirmed our hunch that orangutans in the wild are not that keen to explore new objects. This could be because, in nature, orangutans live very long lives in stable habitats where novelty is rare. So, the potential risk of approaching something unknown doesn’t outweigh the potential reward.”
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