interaction most basic

We have only one Orangutan family at our very small zoo: Father, Mother and (male) Child. When we arrived at the Orangutan exhibit of the Greenville Zoo one lovely Saturday afternoon, the family was dispersed and busy looking for food and grubs in the grass. Child alternated between foraging, yanking on its penis, and looking furtively at Dad. He had complete access to Mom; but Dad was the one he was truly interested in, whether to play with or to challenge. Eventually Child approached Dad, who then charged, picked him up, and to me, looked as if he is going to tear him apart. At this point Mom slapped Dad and took Child away. They resumed foraging; and I wondered what this interaction would have looked like had Child been female though I know all too well how that goes.

Child will grow to be a big male Orangutan soon. Interchanges between (male) Child and Father will no longer seem so quaint. And Child will have to be moved to go start his own family in some other human built environment where he too will have to stand up to his own son.