It’s the best video you’ll see all day. For the first time, a Sumatran orangutan has been caught on camera using a rope bridge to cross a public road. Footage shows a young male carefully picking his way across the artificial structure, before stopping half way to take in the view. Then, with a cheeky glance to camera, he continues on his way.
The film was recorded on a camera trap in the Pakpak Bharat district of North Sumatra. But why did the orangutan cross the road? To get to the other side, obviously, but also to move between fragmented pockets of habitat.
The project was a joint initiative between the UK’s Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) and its Indonesian conservation partner, Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa (TaHuKah). Similar bridges have been used to help other primates, such as gibbons and langurs, but this is a world-first for Sumatran orangutans.
"For two years, we have watched and waited for this moment. Seeing this young male orangutan confidently cross the road using the canopy bridges is a huge milestone for conservation,” says Helen Buckland of SOS.
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The approximately 10m rope bridge is strung high above the Lagan-Pagindar road, which connects remote human communities with schools, hospitals and other critical services. However, it creates a physical barrier for the 350 or so Sumatran orangutans that live in the area.
When the road was upgraded in 2023, it widened the gap in the canopy, making natural crossing impossible for wildlife. A single population of orangutans became split in two. Without a way to reconnect, this put their future in jeopardy. When small populations of animals become isolated, it can lead to inbreeding, and animals that are less hardy.
The sturdy bridge was built in 2024, along with another four crossings, designed to assist as many different species as possible. Each bridge required just 200m of rope and was installed in just four to five days.
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Camera traps mounted on the crossings initially recorded plantain squirrels and black giant squirrels, then long-tailed macaques, black Sumatran langurs and agile gibbons. Then finally, two years after the bridge was built, the first Sumatran orangutan joined the club.
“Witnessing a Sumatran orangutan confidently crossing that bridge is living proof we need not sever the forest’s lifeline in order to build our own communities,” says Franc Bernhard Tumanggor, Bupati (District Head) of Pakpak Bharat.
Image and video credit: Sumatran Orangutan Society / TaHuKah
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