Why Do Orangutans Have Long Arms?

Orangutans spend most of their life in the trees of tropical forests. They seldom come down to the ground. As they move around in the trees they hold on to the branches. With their long arms it's easy for them to move from one branch to the next. Their long arms also help them reach for the seeds and nuts they like to eat. The orangutan is one of the anthropoid, or manlike, apes and is found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia. It normally lives in trees, but on the rare occasions when it comes down to the ground it walks on all fours. Like orangutans, most apes and monkeys that live and move about freely in the trees have long arms to help them grasp branches.