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Orangutan subspecies? in "High Society" video
tomjavaman@aol.com
18 Nov 1996 09:02:19 GMT
I just watched a taping of an excellent video on wild orang-utans
called "Orangutans - The High Society" (Discovery Channel). Perplexing to
me, however, was that the film often showed what looked like adult males
of the Borneo subspecies - Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (instead of the
Sumatran subspecies - Pongo pygmaeus abelii). It seemed confusing, since
the forests they were in were supposed to be in Sumatra (Gunung Leuser,
etc.).(Note: the credits following the program also mention Sabah). It
seemed that the facial morphology of large fleshy areas around the face of
the males would make them Bornean(?) They also showed one scene of a
Sumatran tiger feeding off a discarded durian (again from what appeared to
be an adult Bornean male). Can anyone who has also viewed this tape
clarify this? Are there Borneo males now integrated into the Sumatran
population, or am I just seeing things incorrectly?
.....Just curious.... Please send e-mail to
TomJavaMan@aol.com....Thanks.
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