Almost all of the food they eat grows in the treetops and the frequent rains fill the leaves thus supplying their drinking water. When water is difficult to get, they chew leaves to make a sponge to soak up the water. When it rains very hard the orangutan makes an umbrella for himself out of the big leaves of diptocarp trees. Many people are familiar with the studies that have shown chimpanzees using tools, such as termite-fishing sticks. Recent studies show that orangutans also sometimes fashion tools to aid in the difficult task of foraging for food.
Orangutans have four hands instead of two hands and two feet.
That is why the orangutan is at a great disadvantage on the ground. This hand configuration is also why the orangutan rarely comes down from the treetops. Their food is there, their home is there and they are safer there. They only come down if there is a need to find food and drink elsewhere as in a drought or fire. The orangutan has the longest childhood dependence on the mother of any other animal.