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In the logical part of my brain, no. No researcher has ever been attacked by orangutans in any research site ever. But in the moment? HELL YES. There was one time where I was trying to track down this big flanged male named Codet (this guy). He had long called (a call they make which can be heard from really far away), and I headed off in the direction I thought he was at. He stopped long calling before I reached him, but I kept going, guessing where he could be. I was just walking around, looking in all directions, when all of a sudden he drops down to the ground right in front of me, grabs two small trees, and just bends them down all the way to the ground in a display of power. He was trying to psych me out. I almost shat my pants, but slowly backed away, trying not to show fear. If you run, they will chase you down. That's what they teach us anyways. Not to show any fear, and just stand your ground. As soon as I hid behind a tree, I peeked out and saw him walking away on the ground. I started walking behind him again, so as not to lose him. He immediately turned around and charged me again. I just stood still. My pants were probably soiled at that point anyways haha. I managed not to flinch, and he turned around and kept going on his way. Needless to say, after that I just let him go. You got to learn when the orangutan wants to be left alone.

I think the most surprising thing is how they socialize with one another. Physically, they are so similar to us, but they have a way less social group structure. Well, really there is very little group structure. Most individuals are solitary, and spend most of the time alone. The only relations that still maintain ties are mothers and daughters. They usually occupy the same area even when the daughter becomes independent, and hang out to eat together from time to time. Sons migrate from their home territory once they become independent. Males also do not provide any paternal investment after sex. They just move on. So the strongest relationship in orangutans is between mothers and offspring...and really between mothers and daughters. This is different from gorillas, chimpanzees, and of course humans! Which all socialize in big groups throughout their lives.

The other thing that surprised me is the variation between males! Male orangutans are really weird in that they can mature in one of two ways: some grow cheek pads when they mature, and others never do. No one really knows for sure why it happens, but they seem to be alternate mating strategies. The big flanged males are preferred by females, but they also have to be stronger in order to hold territory. The unflanged males are more "sneaky" and move throughout the forest without really maintaining a hold on a territory. Maybe from far away, they look like females and can avoid aggression from flanged males. Their mating strategy seems to be more "sneak and rape" whereas flanged males "sit and wait" for females, because females prefer flanged males.

I doubt it, orangutans have better hair than he does. But it's an interesting hypothesis.

Haha. I thought this was a joke question, but then I rememberd that I saw TONS of orangutan sex while in Borneo. So it's actually a pretty relevant question. So it's actually pretty surprising how similar orangutans are to humans when it comes to sex. For starters, they do a lot foreplay. Like, even more than most humans I think. But really, that's only when the sex is not coerced (i.e., the female consents to the male's advances). Male orangutans can be extremely coercive and will grab females and force themselves onto them. Surprisingly though, I have to say that most of the sexual encounters I witnessed (and there were a lot!) were pretty consensual. I saw tons of oral sex, both female to male and male to female. They smell each other's parts before sex too. It's like they are inspecting each other. Sometimes, they can last a REALLY long time. Way longer than most humans, that's for sure. I didn't see this particular sexual encounter, but someone else at camp said she saw a male and female go at it for 2 hours in a row. Since they also mate up in the tree branches, they can adopt really crazy and interesting positions when mating. I recorded a few mating bouts on video actually (is that creepy?)

Yes, endangered! The bornean species are doing a lot better than the sumatran ones, which are critically endangered, but the bornean ones are endangered as well. You can see evidence of human damage, but thankfully where I work is one of the better protected national parks. Less logging there than other places, and the forest is mostly primary rainforest.