This is the moment an orangutan family enjoy a huge outdoor climbing structure at the world's oldest zoo, showing off the skills that help the species thrive among the treetops.
The footage was filmed at Tiergarten Schoenbrunn in Vienna, Austria, ahead of World Orangutan Day on 19th August.
The Bornean orangutan is seen as it gripped the ropes and wooden structures with its long, powerful arms as it climbed high above the ground.
The zoo said its outdoor orangutan enclosure had been expanded with additional robinia tree trunks provided by the Austrian Federal Forests, extra ropes and another treetop nest, giving the animals more opportunities to climb, rest and observe.
Zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck said: "Since 2022, our orangutans have had access to a new large climbing facility in the outdoor area, which has now been expanded even further."
He explained: "Orangutans spend most of their lives in the trees."
The enclosure was designed to encourage natural behaviour, with shaded and mist-cooled resting areas helping the animals cope with warm weather.
Stephan added: "With our varied facility, which is cooled and shaded especially around the resting areas, we can offer them many opportunities to live out their natural behaviour."
The zoo said orangutans were particularly well suited to climbing because their arms were exceptionally long and strong, while their shortened thumbs and hand-like feet helped them grip branches and balance on ropes.
Two young orangutans, aged three and four, were already confidently using the climbing equipment.
Keeper Sandra Keiblinger said: "The little ones already climb like the adults."
She added: "Of course, they still like being carried by their mothers. That is still a place of retreat for them."
The male orangutan also regularly used a treetop nest for breaks between his climbing sessions.
Zoo staff said he had already begun developing the distinctive cheek pads associated with adult male Bornean orangutans.
Schoenbrunn said its group of Bornean orangutans, including the young females and their offspring, provided the basis for a stable breeding group with a balanced age structure.
All orangutan species in the wild are threatened with extinction because of the loss and fragmentation of rainforest across Borneo and Sumatra.
The zoo also supports the HUTAN project on Borneo, which creates forest corridors, promotes biodiversity and works to reduce conflicts between people and wildlife.
Schoenbrunn Zoo, located in the grounds of the UNESCO-listed Schönbrunn Palace complex, has kept the orangutans at its ORANG.erie since 2009.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
