Hello Ladies & Gents.
Just to add to Emma’s last post, a funny tale which I should share, regarding the Orangutan reservation;-
Whilst there, I found myself eavesdropping on a Frenchman, who was clearly quite knowledgable on scientific matters. He was explaining to several people that although orangutans share on or abouts 90% of DNA with human beings (in terms of evolutionary belief systems) the chain is apparently orangutans, then gorillas, then chimpanzees, and then finally evolution, to modern homosapien.
Regrettably, I cannot remember the number of evolutionary years between the events that he was citing, but suffice to say he sounded pretty knowledgable on the subject. So there I was, listening to this interesting conversation, as Emma was filming and taking photographs, when I noticed a large number of Muslim visitors present, who were all as fascinated as everyone else , with the presence of the orangutans.
So I started musing to myself that there was a big clash of belief systems occurring around me, and I started to eavesdrop on the Muslims take on things… Now as many of you know, I’m a vegetarian, and occasionally that can get you a hard time (on the piss take front) from other carnivores.
I recall going to Muslim restaurants with my friend Habib, on the Soho Road in Birmingham of a lunchtime, and an enquiry relating to the availability of a meat free dish would prompt smirks, scorn and general ridicule!
Indeed, I saw the most recent Schwarzenneger movie the other day, and a classic line, which even I laughed at, was Schwarzenneger deliberately starting a fight, and when getting hit, he immediately replied “You have a vegetarians punch!”, so as to rile the man he was provoking.
Anyhow, back to the orangutans – as Emma stated in her post, a mother and child orangutan were blocking the path for the tourists to access the main feeding area, where it was hoped that they would glimpse a larger number of the animals. Thereafter, a warden appeared, and the Muslim tourists enquired quite what was going on?
It was explained to them that the orangutans would have to be tempted away with food, and they all nodded their heads in understanding. Thereafter a second warden came up to us all, bearing the food in question; a selection of sliced water melon.
The Muslims looked totally aghast and in disbelief – and several of them threw their arms in the air, only to ask quite what was occurring?
At that stage, the warden replied “The orangutans are vegetarian…” and it was at that point that all of the male Muslims present burst into raucous laughter, and never took the orangutans seriously again!!
That said, I think they might have all changed their tune had the male orangutan arrived; we were told that if the male emerged from the jungle, our best policy would be to run like our very lives depended on it!!
Ritchie the Man!
One thing I noticed was the speed at which the wardens cordoned off an area, so as to protect the public from the orangutan male, when they suspected having had binocular sightings of him!
Perhaps, like me, Ritchie the Orangutan did sport a so called “vegetarian punch”?
To be honest, the wardens panic to safeguard the public from him, convinced me otherwise!!!
Ho Hum… Trent */X
Lows, heights and mosquito bites! 
A dung beetle is not only the world’s strongest insect but also the strongest animal on the planet compared to body weight. They can pull 1,141 times their own body weight. This is the equivalent of an average person pulling six double-decker buses full of people. Now that’s strong! Dung beetles eat dung excreted by herbivores and omnivores, and prefer that produced by the former.
Now that’s an interesting fact!