Orangutans in captivity are highly intelligent solitary foragers that require extensive cognitive and physical enrichment to prevent the psychological deterioration that characterizes inadequately housed individuals.
Orangutan intelligence makes them particularly vulnerable to the cognitive deprivation of barren captive environments. Animals that spend hours in the wild solving foraging problems have those cognitive drives entirely unsatisfied in empty enclosures. The range of abnormal behaviors documented in poorly enriched orangutans spans from simple stereotypy to severe self-harm. Well-designed enrichment programs demonstrate that these behaviors can be substantially prevented, making inadequate enrichment a choice rather than a necessity.