All living things - including orangutans - have an innate drive to meet their biological needs; water, food, oxygen, and shelter are all key to surviving in the forest. But what about the drive to reproduce?
Just like humans, female orangutans have a menstrual cycle that determines when they are fertile. Whilst males develop cheek pads known as ‘flanges’ to display sexual maturity - though unflanged males can also be fertile - females have concealed ovulation. In other words, unlike other primates, their fertility is not visually displayed.
Maya and her infant Milo, November 2024
Resultingly, reproduction is an interesting encounter in this semi-soiltary species, and one of the only times individuals are seen together as adults. Of late, camp staff have observed Tiem beginning to show interest in Maya. The male and female respectively are both ex-captives now living in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve - but what does the future look like for the two?
One late afternoon at camp, with the orchestra of birds beginning their song for the evening, staff noticed Tiem lingering nearby Maya. Though small, Tiem’s cheek pads have begun to appear, which can display male dominance in a given area. Maya, however, is still caring for her son Milo, who at approximately five-years-old is not yet living independently in the Reserve. Milo tends to stay close to his mother, rarely mustering up the courage to allow distance between them.
Male cheek pads known as ‘flanges’ can mark dominance in adult male orangutans
But Tiem has not let this youngster trouble him. The adult male has been observed following the mother-infant duo peacefully through the canopy as they forage from tree to tree, even waiting near the feeding site which they frequent. So far, Maya does not seem bothered by his presence. The team is hopeful that Tiem will try to approach Maya to reproduce with time.
Once a male approaches a female, orangutan courtship lasts between 3-10 days. Post-copulation it is then the female who, unwilling to share her food source, initiates separation. After a gestation period of approximately eight and a half months, she will welcome her new infant and care for it single-handedly until it is around seven or eight years old. Though, the infant may become independent at an earlier age - as could be the case with Milo! Doing this all alone, orangutan mothers truly are the supermums of the forest.
Caption: Infant born in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve
Potential reproduction is always exciting; new generations being born in the wild are a success indicator of the Reserve as a safe-haven for the species, and of our conservation efforts. The more infant orangutans born in the wild, the more hope we have for the future of this critically endangered species.
