To avoid potential confusion from the above post, I'll explain that I replaced my avatar image of a spear-fishing orang-utan with the current image of another nonhuman primate hunting with a weapon, this time with one that was self-fashioned, and in pursuit of bushbabies rather than fish (though orang-utans DO eat fish in the wild--see below). I had only used the orang-utan image because it was a more striking image and the orang-utan resembles me more closely.
I also doubt the Orangutan fashioned it himself, that'd be quite a feat considering no human could easily do even a botched job of making that implement primordially.
Ha ha! This one is so hilarious I couldn't resist quoting it. This sort of underestimating of the intelligence and skill of animals and ancient humans is common among the vegetarian and near-vegetarian crowd, who are less interested in the facts of nature than they are in spreading their propaganda. They often won't even bother to do a little googling to check whether their assumptions have any basis before they spout them. Contrast the above quote with my avatar of a chimp with the small spear he fashioned for stabbing bushbabies, and the following:
"...wildlife experts were equally surprised to see an orang-utan pick up a tree branch and stun a fish before eating it."
"Swimming orang-utans' spearfishing exploits amaze the wildlife experts," by Lewis Smith, The Times, April 28, 2008,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3828123.ece"During the day, [orangutans] forage for the 300 types of forest fruits, like durian, jackfruit, mangoes, and figs, which make up the bulk of their diet (the rest consists of other plant parts, plus honey, insects, eggs, birds, and lizards)."
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animals/orangutan.html"Orangutans eat 400 different kinds of food that consists of fruits (e.g., figs and durians), plants of various kinds (e.g., leaves, bark, flowers, vines and nuts), honey, insects, and occasionally the meat of mammals and even soil!" Orangutan FAQ,
http://www.orangaid.com/faq.html "In Sumatra, three adult females have been observed on seven occasions to hunt and eat slow lorises, and one female was observed to eat a gibbon. At Gunung Palung, a juvenile female orangutan once caught and ate a rat."
(
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~gporang/orangutans.html,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5000416/abstract)
Orangutan Island: Season 1, Episode 8 – Aired: 1/12/2008, "Eaten Alive": "Jupiter takes to the water like a fish, and starts a trend by eating them."
http://www.tv.com/orangutan-island/eaten-alive/episode/1179020/summary.html"Orangutans eat tons of fruit but they also eat leaves, seeds, bark and bulbs. Orangutans also occasionally eat termites and bugs and some smaller animals like fish[,] birds and small mammals."
Orangutan Fact For Kids
http://www.daughterearth.net/orangutanfacts.html
