Vikki the Vet Operates on Oran the Orangutan

Once upon a time there was an orangutan named Oran.

Orangutans are ordinarily orange.

But Oran the Orangutan isn’t your average orangutan.

Oran the Orangutan is an albino orangutan.

And that is why his proper name is Oran.

Oran means pale.

And onomastics is the subject that says as much.

If you are into onomastics, you would know that the name Oran literally means light.

Light as in pale in colour.

Or pale as in a lack of pigmentation.

Onomastics is the study of the origin of proper names.

A proper name is the name that you’ve been given.

And Oran is obviously an appropriate proper name for an albino orangutan.

Orangutans are the only Great Apes in Asia.

And they can only be found on two islands.

Orangutans live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

Borneo is on the south end of the South China Sea.

And Sumatra sits beside Singapore.

Orangutans are opportunistic eaters.

And they aren’t overly picky.

That is, they’ll eat almost anything!

Fruit,

root,

shoot,

insect,

or egg—

an orangutan will eat pretty much anything it can get its hands on.

IT’LL EVEN EAT DIRT!

Chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas are also Great Apes.

Most Great Apes are arboreal creatures.

Which means that they live in the trees.

All of the Great Apes have opposable thumbs.

Orangutans even have opposable big toes.

Orangutans use their opposable big toes and their hook-like hands to get a good grip.

And this is how they are able to live in the trees.

Orangutans live in an endangered habitat.

The trees that they hang out in are in danger of disappearing.

So just like Khalil, who raised money for the mountain gorillas in Uganda, you could raise money for the orangutans in Southeast Asia.

Oran the Orangutan is at Vikki the Vet’s clinic.

Vikki the Vet is going to operate on Oran’s ear.

And Otto the otologist is going to assist her.

Otto is an ear expert.

The oto– in otologist is a prefix.

It means “of the ear”.

Otto is informing Vikki the Vet about Oran’s ear problem.

It turns out that Oran has an inner ear issue.

Oran’s inner ear issue is making him dizzy.

And you don’t want to be dizzy if you spend most of your day hanging out in the trees.

“The issue isn’t with Oran’s ossicles,” said Otto.

“The little bones in his ear are fine.”

“I understand,” said Vikki the Vet.

“Oran’s issue is oncological.”

“He has a tiny tumour inside of his ear.”

“I need to cut out that tiny tumour,” said Vikki the Vet.

“Or else Oran will never find his balance.*”

“And if Oran doesn’t find his balance he will never survive in the forest.”

“I agree,” said Otto.

*It’s hard to believe that your inner ears help you control your balance, but I assure you it’s true.

It took several days for Oran to recover from his operation.

But in the end, the surgery was successful.

Vikki the Vet was able to excise Oran’s acoustic neuroma.

And Oran – the exceptionally rare albino orangutan – lived happily ever after.