As with the chimpanzees, orangutans use tools made from branches and leaves to scratch, scrape, wipe, sponge, swat, fan, hook, probe, scoop, pry, chisel, hammer, cover, cushion and amplify.

Use this video and supporting materials from NATURE: Orangutan Eden to examine how orangutans make and use tools. Using text-dependent questions, writing prompts and video, students will learn …

Studies have shown social learning and cultures contribute substantially to orangutans’ level of innovation in the wild, with many of the different types of tool use observed being passed down …

In parts of Borneo, for example, orangutans use handfuls of leaves as napkins to wipe their chins while orangutans in parts of Sumatra use leaves as gloves, helping them handle spiny fruits and branches, …

Jan 1, 2013 · In this chapter we try to relate these somewhat contradictory views to the relatively rare occurrence of habitual and complex tool use in wild orangutans, especially when compared to wild...

Jul 16, 2025 · Orangutans use tools in their natural habitats primarily out of necessity driven by ecological challenges such as accessing food, protecting themselves from environmental hazards, …

Dec 12, 2024 · A recent Outlook article authored by Dr. Robert Shumaker and Dr. Christopher Martin, both of the Indianapolis Zoo, delves into the existing research into ways that orangutans use stone …

Such tool use may offer new insights into creativity because the forest canopy is highly unstable and unpredictable, so orangutans’ arboreal tool use favors improvisation and innovation. We undertook …

Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates, known for their remarkable ability to use tools—a skill observed in only a handful of non-human species.

Apr 12, 2022 · Using zoo-housed orangutans, two in Norway and three in the United Kingdom, the team ran experiments to determine whether the apes could make and use a stone tool for cutting purposes.