ujianAn orangutan famous for his whistling could be set for pop stardom in Germany with the release next month of his debut album.

Heidelberg Zoo resident Ujian’s new CD, “Ich Bin Uljan”, features the ape accompanying singer Tobias Kaemmerer and other musicians, aka. Toni and the Ape Band.

“Been a long time since I’ve hung out in Sumatra,” croons Tobi, according to the Times. “I’m in Heidelberg now, give an audience every day/ I’ve got my butler – and my barber/ If you want more – just go whistle!”

The 14-year-old ape, who taught himself to purse his lips after hearing humans whistling — and who now whistles when zookeepers are late with his daily supply of fruit and vegetables — is not the world’s only orangutan to exhibit the ability.

An orangutan at Washington Zoo called Bonnie has been whistling for decades and researchers believe the ability of the creatures to pick up sounds from other species could hold vital clues about the evolution of human language.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Mammals, Primates, Zoos, apes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.