Orangutan Builds Hammock to Make Life in a Cage a Bit Brighter (VIDEO)

If anyone ever accuses you of being up to monkey business, consider it a compliment. Tests indicate that orangutan intelligence reaches the level of human children about 3.5 years old, and the 14-year-old orangutan featured in this video by Animal Cognition Network (which investigates the mental capacities of animals, though not affiliated with the zoo where it was filmed), might just be a genius.

In the video, the female orangutan builds herself a hammock out of a blanket to make her home a bit more comfortable. Watching the video makes us wonder why such an intelligent creature would be confined to a life of solitude in a zoo in the first place.  Animals in captivity across the globe have been documented displaying signs of anxiety and depression. In fact, psychological distress in zoo animals is so common that it has its own name: Zoochosis. The diagnosis can include rocking, swaying, excessively pacing back and forth, circling, twisting of the neck, self-mutilation, excessive grooming, biting and vomitingThese traits are largely uncommon amongst healthy and happy animals in the wild.

Given that orangutans share nearly 97 percent of the same DNA as humans, keeping them in such conditions seems all the more horrific.

We can all take action to help these animals by refusing to patronize zoos and other establishments that hold animals captive for our entertainment. To learn more, click here.