OranGUTan! Sweet tooth Bendot beats the heat by begging ice lolly from zoo visitor

By Jessica Satherley


The king of cool: Bornean orangutan Bendot enjoys an orange ice lolly at Rangunan Zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia


With temperatures reaching up to 32 degrees in Jakarta this week, it was no surprise that this hot and bothered orangutan was trying to find measures to cool down.

The hungry ape, named Bendot, was spotted savouring the icy treat at Rangunan Zoo in Indonesia’s capital.

But the sugary orange ice lolly, which he managed to beg from a zoo visitor, might not have been the best snack for the overweight primate.


The Bornean orangutan’s bulging belly was on clear display as he sat in his grassy enclosure sucking on the snack.

Photographer Tri Saputro managed to snap 25-year-old Bendot as he carefully held the wooden lolly stick and slurped away.

Tri said: "Bendot spotted a zoo visitor walking alongside the enclosure with the ice lolly and started to follow him.

"Eventually the man took sympathy and threw the lolly into the enclosure.


Beating the heat: Temperatures in Jakarta this week are set to reach 32 degrees, and this is how one orangutan decided to cool down

Hefty appetite: The overweight ape's belly was on clear display as he ate the sugary treat in his enclosure


"It landed on the grass and Bendot immediately picked it up and took it to a shady place protected form the sun.

"He appeared in no rush to finish the lolly quickly and enjoyed every lick."

Around 65-90 per cent of an orangutan’s usual diet should consist of fruit, while they also enjoy leaves, bark, insects, honey and bird eggs.

But they are opportunistic foragers, which explains why Bendot enjoyed the unusual sweet when he got his hands on it.

Typical diet: Around 65-90 per cent of an orangutan's usual diet should consist of fruit, while hey also enjoy leaves, bark, insects, honey and bird eggs


Planet of the Apes (and monkeys) exhibition reveals hidden humanity

These expressions of rage, pride and sadness come from the heartfelt portraits of apes in captivity.

The photographs capture the faces of man's closest relatives as zoo exhibits, in a series called ‘Planet of the Apes (and monkeys)'.

From a raging male silverback gorilla, to a relaxed orangutan and an inquisitive chimpanzee, the series reveals the hidden humanity in these noble creatures.


Raging male: A silverback gorilla in a zoo in America's midwest expresses his anger in captivity

Through a glass window: A gorilla is watched through glass by a young boy in a zoo in America's midwest


Photographed over the past 18 months in zoo's across America's midwest, they are the work of 29-year-old photographer Steven Miljavac.

Inspired to rail against the cruelty of some zoo visitors who knock on the glass of the animals enclosures and take the animals existence for granted, Steven, of Omaha, wanted to re-balance man's attitudes to our genetic cousins.


Family ties: A silverleaf monkey and its mother in one of America's zoos is captured by photographer Steven Miljavac


Man's closest relatives: This sad chimp is one of the portraits from the Planet of the Apes (and monkeys) exhibition


source:dailymail