An Astute Orangutan Washes Herself With a Bar of Soap That She Stole From the Humans She’d Been Watching

A mother orangutan at Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo happily washes herself with the bar of soap that she stole from photographer Kevin Su. The astute simian had been watching Su and his friends washing up, figured out what they were doing, and went about doing the same.

An orangutan gives herself a scrub with a bar soap – before licking herself clean. Photographer Kevin Su and his friends returned from a jungle trek to find a mother orangutan and her baby using a bar of soap which it had stolen from their boat. …Tajung Puting National Park was established in 1982 to help protect orangutans, who are still at risk from deforestation in Borneo.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.