World WildLife describes the bond between a mother orangutan and her offspring as "one of the strongest in nature." The apes raise their little ones until they are six or seven years old before they leave the nest. However, female orangutans will even "visit" their mothers until they are well into their teens. So, when Steve Irwin decided to encroach on a mother orangutan in her territory, Terri Irwin was understandably terrified for her spouse.
Terri told Scientific American about Steve's thought process when he visited the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. "The ranger who works with the orangutans always said, 'Do not go anywhere near the orangutans and their territory.'" However, Steve had other plans when he saw a mother orangutan and her baby and wanted to get a shot of her. Terri warned him, "If you climb up there, [the mother orangutan] will rip your head off. She's like eight times the strength of a man! She's got a baby. What are you, nuts?"
In the video clip, Steve waited patiently at the bottom of a tree. The mother orangutan was so trusting that she brought her baby to the conservationist, and they shared a tender moment. Terri continued, "The baby walks away, and [the mother] grabs the baby by the head or whatever and pulls it back over, 'No, you've gotta stay here.'" How's that for animal instincts?
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