Hampshire scaffolding and scaffolders in the UK might be in for a little competition as a team of scientists have discovered that orangutans in the wild possess professional scaffolding skills that would give any scaffolder a run for his money! So Scaff's Beware!!!

The team of scientists lead by Manchester University travelled to the forests of Sumatra to discover more about how apes lived. Whilst there they watched the orangutans build their nests and were amazed to discover that the apes had complex construction skills.

Just like when scaffolders select a flexible yet strong tube type to provide the scaffolding frame, the animals would first select large, flexible branches to act as a base scaffold onto which they could then lay leafy twigs, making a platform in the trees that was strong enough to hold their weight. This is exactly how a working platform is made, with the strong scaffold frame holding the boards in place so that a construction worker can safely work on a building and store his working materials.

And just like professional scaffolders who have had years of practice, the orangutans can finish their scaffolding nests in around 5 minutes.

The team of scientists would take the nests apart in the morning to discover more about how they were made and found that the apes were “choosing branches based on their structural properties.” The structures had to be strong enough to hold an 80kg animal comfortably and the apes seemed to be aware of just how to safely construct their scaffolding platforms quickly and efficiently.

So does this mean that scaffolding companies will start to employ orangutans in the future? Not likely! However for the scientists involved in the findings it does show that the animals possess a greater understanding of construction and materials than previously thought. Prof Richard Byrne added “Instead of just [seeing] a branch, the orangutans also see a nest-building material.”

It all just goes to show how important scaffolding is, both in the modern world and in the animal kingdom, to provide safe structures for living and nesting. Who knows, perhaps some of the apes will go into business providing scaffolding services for their friends and relatives!