Bornean orangutan

The animal

Meet the bornean orangutan

A wild orangutan does almost everything slowly and deliberately — travel, feeding, even the sideways glance it gives you before deciding you're not interesting. Males announce themselves with a long call that rolls down the valley; females travel with a single youngster for seven or eight years, the longest childhood of any animal apart from us.

Watch the hands. An orangutan crossing a gap doesn't leap — it makes the tree lean, transfers its weight, and lets physics do the work. Ten minutes of that and most people stop taking photographs and just look.

Where to see it in Danum

Fruiting fig trees decide everything. Guides at Borneo Rainforest Lodge and the Study Centre track which trees are in fruit; the river corridor and the walkway area produce many of the sightings. Fresh night nests overhead are the daily evidence even when the builder stays hidden.

When & how

Any month can produce one; fig seasons stack the odds. Early morning is best, when they feed actively before the heat. Bring patience rather than a long lens wish-list — the good sightings are the slow ones.

See it on these

• The Canopy Walkway — crown-height views when one works the area
• Wildlife watching — the guided daily rhythm
• The Danum Essential — 3D2N — the classic first-visit package