A Sumatran orangutan used a canopy bridge to cross a road that had split his community in two in a world-first moment for the species, according to conservationists.
Footage shared by the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) shows the primate swinging across the rope bridge over the Lagan-Pagindar road, which became an essential route for local people when it opened in 2024, but created a physical barrier for around 350 wild orangutans and put them at risk of inbreeding and eventual extinction, SOS said.
A rope bridge installed to allow the apes to cross the road went unused for two years – until a young male navigated across.
Other primates have previously used canopy bridges to cross the public road, but this event confirms that critically endangered Sumatran orangutans will use them to overcome forest fragmentation, conservationists said.
“Seeing this young male orangutan confidently cross the road is a huge milestone for conservation – proving that it is possible to stitch fragmented forests back together,” SOS added.
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