Those of us who have watched The Planet of the Apes are probably concerned about where this is going: a male orangutang was photographed on Borneo using a pole to try to spear fish in a river.
Image by Gerd Schuster et al and found at The Daily Mail.
Jerse
That picture is so awesome
bean
I'll be concerned when they start buying knockoff Kalashnikovs from Red China.
SenorMysterioso
Cool. I always hear that one of the things that distinguishes man from animal is the ability to make and use tools. I also here quite often stories, such as this, of animals making and using tools 
sal
What's the law have to say about animals poaching other animals?
DrJones
I think this would be more reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odessy.
Cool though!
Edward
I, for one, welcome our new Orangutan Overlords.
badgirl
So...did he catch anything?
Will be impressed when he does AND fries it up with a lemon slice
and olive oil...in which case, he can be short order cook for me
anytime!
Adam Stanhope
Unfortunate link to wingnut blog.
Justin
I dunno, this is from the Daily Mail after all...
fsmarch
He is not trying to spear fish.
He is trying to pole-vault over the river.
L
It's "orangutan". Not "orangutang".
mark
neatorama is becoming so fancy, i like it a lot like this ape!! :]
CheeseDuck
I say we kill him before its too late.
Terry
There is no reason to believe it's spear fishing, it could be holding that pole for many reasons. Just because some dill states it was spear fishing doesn't make it so.
Only the gullible will believe this story.
travelina
Here's a National Geographic story and photo gallery about the Fongoli chimps of Senegal who make pointed sticks that they use to spear bush babies in tree holes:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/chimps-with-spears/mary-roac h-text
Justin
Fruit makes up 65% of the orangutan diet. Fruits with sugary or fatty pulp are favored. The fruit of fig trees are also commonly eaten since it is easy to both harvest and digest. Other food items include: young leaves, shoots, seeds and bark. Insects and bird eggs are also included.[12]
Orangutans are thought to be the sole fruit disperser for some plant species including the climber species Strychnos ignatii which contains the toxic alkaloid strychnine.[13] It does not appear to have any effect on orangutans except for excessive saliva production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangutan#Diet
I see no mention of fish, and the only mention of protein are bugs and bird eggs...
Travelina, I understand that we are discovering new and wonderful things about our fellow animals. I just have trouble believing this because of the source it came from. The Daily Mail as I understand it, is pretty tabloidy.
cw
That's a mighty straight stick
Frank
Nice one, Edward.
Alannah
Next they will be improvising nets and fishing poles. As long as we also teach them to drink beer when they fish, we should have nothing to fear from them.
Chris C
I'm calling shenanigans on this picture. I don't think it is real. The ape just doesn't look right compared to the rest of the photo, and I mean the look not the actions of the animal.
marc
when people are going to realise that eating meat destroys Earth? and killing animals like these apes should be punished like for murder.
Ravi J
The picture seems doctored.
Ravi J
By the way, you are quoting ace of spades. That's funny.
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