News Bites - National Geographic Kids: Search Results

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tickle Study

Posted By NG Kids

Photo: A researcher tickles a young orangutan named Naru

Photograph by Miriam Wessels/University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany

Marina Davila Ross of the U.K.'s University of Portsmouth led a team that tickled the necks, feet, palms, and armpits of chimp, orangutan, bonobo, gorilla, and human babies. All of the babies responded to the tickling with laughter. The study says that the ability to laugh like this comes from an ancestor that humans and great apes have in common.

Watch a video and hear chimp, gorilla, and orangutan laughter on National Geographic News.

Get the facts on orangutans in the Creature Feature.

Get the facts on chimpanzees in the Creature Feature.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Monkey Hear, Monkey Do

Posted By NG Kids

Did you know that orangutans can imitate sounds and even whistle? Researchers have seen them imitate human activities like sweeping and even washing clothes, but now scientists have found that they can pick up sounds from other species.

Bonnie, an orangutan who lives at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has been whistling for about 20 years. She was never trained to whistle, indicating that some animals can learn and mimic sounds that other species make without being directly taught.

Photograph courtesy Smithsonian National Zoological Park

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wear Orange For Orangutan Day

Posted By NG Kids

The Orangutan Foundation celebrates Orangutan Week from November 10 to November 16 this year. On Friday, November 14, dress in orange to celebrate Orangutan Day. Ask your friends to wear orange, too! Orangutans are Asia's only great ape species and they are endangered.

Want to learn more about orangutans? Check out the Creature Feature.

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