BIGGEST Animals That Climb Trees

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Video Script:: 

here are ten of the biggest animals that you might find up in a tree watch out number four is not one you'd expect number ten orangutan of course these great apes are going to be one of the first animals found up in a tree there are some of the smartest members of the animal kingdom and spend a large portion of their lives swinging around on branches enjoying fruits and vegetation orangutan scan use tools like sticks to pry open trees and look for termites to eat or even flat broad leaves as a kind of glove to help them hold prickly fruits or thorny branches pretty bright they aren't huge but they are typically about 4 to 5 feet tall and weigh up to 200 pounds in the largest individuals they live in Indonesia on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where they build elaborate sleeping cradles up in the canopies of the jungle to rest in every night so if you're hiking around one of these lush islands out away from the city you might stumble upon a friendly group of our primate cousins hooting at you from up in the treetops you'll be able to recognize them from their reddish brown hair orangutan is really are the original red heads of the primates number nine badger the famous honey badger of course does not care one bit about anything but you might find him up in a tree on occasion surprisingly like his cousins the European badger and the American badger the honey badger can actually climb trees when avoiding predators or seeking out food the European badger is the largest member of the family and can weigh over 35 pounds at maximum they all eat small insects eggs fruits and even little amphibians reptiles or birds they'll eat basically anything they can get their grubby paws on this has led to some interesting incidents such as Badgers being intoxicated after eating rotten fermented fruit or being seen sneaking into people's homes and eating something out of the pantry just to reiterate honey badger does not care but why and where might you find a badger in a tree they like honey and honeybees put their hives in trees so would a badger climb a tree to get at some honey absolutely they might also climb a tree to get at a bird's nest and eat the eggs these guys are all over the world from America to Japan and as far north as Scandinavia or South in Africa so they could be in a tree near you number eight giant panda these cute cuddly creatures eat tons of bamboo all day every day so it's no surprise that you might find one climbing up in a tree in their native forests they live in China of course and they are reliant on conservation efforts to keep them from going extinct in the wild mostly they occupy forests in mountain ranges in Sichuan province in southwest China because panda bears are so cute and adorable lots of zoos around the world have pandas in their exhibits this gives us an easy way to see how much they love to climb trees when they're playing around and during their active periods in the morning mid-afternoon and late night they will gladly do their best to get up as high as possible given their massive weight often the most popular video recordings of the species show pandas climbing up before tumbling back down out of trees but make no mistake the most skillful members of the species have no problem getting up to the treetops and even roughhousing with others up in the branches how do they do it they shimmy up the tree gripping with long tough claws and even using their heads to try to gain some traction on the tree trunk they need to be able to do this to survive in the wild where they could be attacked by wolves there are even training programs teaching young pandas in captivity how to climb up artificial trees in order to better prepare them to be released into the wild now that's crazy number seven leopard of course leopards are big climbers when stalking their prey it's no surprise that this species close cousin to tigers lions and jaguars might be lurking and peeking down on you from up high be watchful because a large male leopard weighs up to 200 pounds and can be over six feet long they have razor-sharp teeth and claws and can like many cats climb trees by gripping the bark with those claws did you know that a panther is another name for a melanistic leopard melanistic means it has darker coloration and a black panther is simply a leopard with darker fur than the traditional spotted ones we see they're really the same species there are also melanistic Jaguars who sometimes also get called Panthers basically to make it simple Panther is the word that people use when talking about the big cats with black fur but while Jaguars live in the Americas leopards dominate Africa and Asia from the southern tip of South Africa to the northeast part of China leopards have an incredibly wide range of habitats there are tons of videos showing evidence of leopards successfully climbing trees so be sure to look in every direction including up when you're hiking in the forests of the old world number 6 Python there is video evidence of the reticulated python scaling yes pun intended a massive tree in Thailand that went viral several years ago and led to many folks asking themselves if snakes could really be spying on them from above it's true like in the movie The Jungle Book the predatory Python kha can slither up into trees with its prey reflecting a rare the definitely real ability that actual pythons have how do they do it well the answer is slowly with amazing grip strength and patience while the bottom half of a Python stays wrapped around a tree trunk the top half can wiggle up a few feet the top half curls around stays locked in place while the rest follows it up bit by bit coiled tightly the snake can maintain its composure while it ascends pythons like the reticulated python are upwards of 20 feet long and can weigh almost 200 pounds luckily for us they are not venomous and pose little threat to humans an adult human could run away from a Python with little trouble other than fear but pythons would certainly climb trees to get at a bird's nest and a tasty eggs inside no doubt if you see a snake up in a tree take a picture it's not often that we can catch a glimpse of them climbing and it might be worth recording number 5 tree climbing goat when it comes to climbing trees this animal might just be the greatest of all time yep there is a special type of goat that has adapted to climbing trees as opposed to steep mountainsides it lives in Morocco where the famous Organia tree which makes argan oil is grown the small fruits and nuts of the tree are not really edible by humans but goats love them the goats nibble on the fruit near ground level but after polishing those off they decide that it's time to eat the stuff that's higher up and how does a determined goat get up to reach the hard-to-get fruit it learns to climb up tree branches farmers of the Argan tree keep their goats far from the ripening trees waiting until the fruit is fully ready before the feeding frenzy so what's the point the goats do all the work of eating the fruit and defecating out the nuts which are then picked up by the farmers gross no but it gets better the oil that the farmers extract from these digested seeds is the highly sought-after argan oil which is used to make luxury skin care products nowadays the goats in the trees are a major tourist attraction themselves in Morocco so get ready to encounter this strange animal if you travel there any time in the late spring early summer number four crocodile yes it sounds crazy no but crocodiles 100% can climb trees and just when you thought you only had to look down into the water to make sure the coast was clear why and how do these massive reptiles get up into trees well recent studies by researchers found that they were better able to regulate their body temperature as they are cold-blooded animals by basking in the Sun up in the trees when the water was shady and cold apparently those few people who lived near crocodile habitats were well aware of their tendency to climb trees to catch a few rays but it never became a part of a scientific study until recently the highest these apex predators have ever been spotted 30 feet up in the air up in a tree far above the surface of the water below if they were to fall from that height they could suffer severe injuries but they have clever tricks for getting up or back down and most Crocs were only high up enough in the tree to dive in with a spectacular splash which they did whenever researchers disturbed their sunbathing so if you're on the bayou taking in some nature look out above there might be a beast weighing over a ton sitting just a few feet above you ready to strike number 3 gorilla of course big beefy gorillas climb up in trees it's the classic archetype of the jungle a massive silverback holding a big bunch of bananas scurrying up a tall tree while scarfing down his fruit snack and of course the gorilla is found in Central Africa around the Congo River they actually occupy a wide swath of territory from lowland swamps to mountainous forests between the two species in the genus gorillas their eastern and western lowland gorillas for those curious now the biggest gorillas ever seen how that a six-foot tall silverback male gorilla weighing nearly 600 pounds they could beat up any unarmed human no question and they are called Silverbacks because they are the alpha males of the tribe whose back hair turns silvery when they reach adulthood these silver backs will protect their tribe at all costs when attacked by leopards humans for rival tribes they use their powerful jaws to bite down on anyone that threatens them but gorillas can be smart and good-natured if you treat them with respect so if you are on a safari in sub-saharan Africa and you see a gorilla up in a tree keep your distance and they will not bother you you'll know by their hooting and chest-thumping if they decide to get aggressive and you'll have time to get far away number two tiger yes the great Bengal tiger can climb trees as can the Siberian tiger but it is very rare after all they are giant animals at nearly ten feet long and over 500 pounds and with the ability to hunt down lots of prey on the ground now of course a tiger might chase some prey up into a tree in order to take down a meal if it were very hungry but something would be quite wrong if you were strolling around and saw a tiger up in the upper branches of a tree you'd have to stumble upon one while walking around India or Bangladesh away from major cities and then not scare it off before you saw it and even then it would have to be a rare occasion for the tiger to put in all the effort to scale the tree but it is possible Tigers have been observed climbing trees to escape floodwaters of the monsoon or if something is up in a tree and bothering them for example a researcher peering down at a tiger's nest might irritate the mother this happened once in Nepal and the tigress hopped up the 15-foot tree to pull the hapless scientist down so you're less likely to find a tiger up in a tree but you're very well could be minding your own business in a tree and have a tiger find you and now the number one biggest animal that climbs trees but first if you liked this video hit subscribe and turn notifications on and give the video a thumbs up would you and answer this in the comments what's the tallest tree you've ever climbed humans climb trees too you know number one black bear polar bears don't have too many trees up there at the top of the world Grizzlies and brown bears can climb trees but the black bear is the most common tree climber why it's smaller than Grizzlies or polar bears and it is very able to chase its prey up into a tree where the prey is trapped black bears are known for fighting in trees they are excellent tree climbers and mother bears teach their cubs to climb trees to avoid danger themselves so they could climb a tree to avoid danger or to bring the danger to you bear attacks are extremely rare but if there's one real piece of useful advice in this video to keep in mind it is not to climb a tree to try to escape an angry bear in fact at the University of Colorado Boulder a bear climbed a tree on campus and police had to tranquilize the bear before catching it in a big net and transporting it safely back to the wilderness keep in mind though bears are generally scared of you and will go to great lengths to avoid you if you make your presence well known in advance make noise if you are in bear country hiking around and let the bear climb a tree to avoid you don't try to do it the other way around see you next time [Music]