Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 5 hrs ago
Watching and exploring help young orangutans build broader diets
A study of 21 young orangutans at a Sumatra research site found that watching others and exploring foods on their own both help them learn what to eat.
Researchers used 12 years of field observations to estimate how these learning habits related to the range of foods each youngster ate before leaving its mother.
Young orangutans that did more of both had the widest diets when they became independent.
The animals usually stayed with their mothers for about eight years, learning which foods to eat, how to prepare them, and where and when to find them.
Watching and solo exploration work together, and more watching may partly make up for less exploration alone.
This matters because adult Sumatran orangutans eat around 250 foods from thousands of forest options, and a broader diet gives them more choices when familiar foods are hard to find.
The study tracked learning and diet development; it does not say what happens next.
Young orangutans develop broader diets through a combination of watching others and exploring foods on their own, a study of wild orangutans found.
The researchers estimated that youngsters who did more of both had the widest diets when they became independent.
Extra watching may partly make up for less solo exploration.
The study drew on 12 years of field observations of 21 young orangutans at Suaq Balimbing in Sumatra.
Young orangutans stay with their mothers for about eight years while learning which foods to eat and how to find and prepare them.
- Who
- Young orangutans studied by a research team led by Revathe Thillaikumar.
- What
- The study found that watching others and exploring foods independently work together to help young orangutans build broader diets.
- When
- The observations spanned 12 years. The article was published on October 26, 2026.
- Where
- Suaq Balimbing, on the island of Sumatra.
- Why
- Young orangutans need to learn what foods to eat, how to prepare them, and when and where to find them before leaving their mothers.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The research team gathered observations of 21 young orangutans at Suaq Balimbing.
Researchers recorded 303 different foods eaten by 13 youngsters across roughly 4,700 hours of observation.
- Study site
- Suaq Balimbing, Sumatra
- Young orangutans observed
- 21
- Field observation period
- 12 years
- Foods recorded
- 303 different foods eaten by 13 youngsters
What people are saying
We often think of animals as using either social or individual learning to develop their skill set.