How Smart Is an Orangutan? Clever Ape Uses Cloth to Retrieve Basket from Pond

Orangutans are really smart and considered the most intelligent non-human primate species.

A 37-year-old visitor to the Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic, Lucie Štěpničková, was left amazed when she witnessed a clever orangutan use a tool to retrieve a basket that was floating in the pond of his enclosure.

A saleswoman by profession and a primate enthusiast, Lucie, has captured shots of various primates across the Prague Zoo, including chimpanzees, gorillas, and others.

She was stunned by the antics of an orangutan named Kawi during her visit to the zoo on October 23, where she spotted him playing inside his enclosure.

Kawi had his sight set on a basket flowing in a small pond. He took a long piece of cloth and kept throwing it in the water repeatedly, to make it heavy.

Once the fabric was heavy enough, he threw it wildly across the basket, using it as a tool to pull the basket closer to him, and then he started playing with it.

Even ape experts were in awe of Kawi’s resourcefulness, which Lucie had the chance to witness firsthand. After finishing with the basket, he climbed to a higher spot and hung the wet cloth there.

Then he climbed down and opened his mouth to drink water dripping from the wet cloth. Lucie described the moment as incredible, calling Kawi a cheerful, smart, and resourceful cub.

Researchers believe that orangutans are known to use tools and are even capable of ‘talking’ about the past, just like humans.

A wild Sumatran orangutan named Rakus was spotted in May this year, using medicinal plants to heal a wound on his cheek.

Wild animals, especially many primates, have been known to eat, chew, or rub plants to cure and heal themselves.

The case of Rakus was the first one in recorded history where a wild primate species was observed applying the juice of chewed Akar Kuning stem and leaves onto a cheek injury, he had sustained a few days ago.

Surprisingly, the wound healed in five days, and Rakus did not apply the plant or its juice to any other areas of his body.