Orangutans have been seen swimming on many occasions in the wild. Bizarrely, though, it seems to be a shared trait of all captive Orangutans to be terrified of water, and incapable of swimming even short distances.
This does help zoos, as it makes easy barriers to put up, without impeding the views that the visitors will get.
As in many zoos, it is not uncommon for visitors to through food for the animals (though in almost all instances this will not be good for the animal in question),
On the fateful day – in Vin[earl safari Phu Quoc (on Phu Quco the largest island of Vietnam) a visitor threw some food, but it fell short in the moat. The orangutan preceded now a ramp to try to extract the morsel, but slipped and fell in. Having struggled briefly on the surface, the animal sunk out of view.
The zoo keeper quickly threw in a life preserver, and then jumped in himself, and returned to the surface with the Orangutan. Once on shore, the keeper gave CPR and the Orangutan recovered.