In the Jungle Book, orangutan King Louis wanted nothing more than to be like me and you-oo-oo. And these kings of the swimmers seem to have the same ambition – diving into pools and even fishing for their tea.
The pictures have amazed experts, who have long believed the apes to be scared of water.
But for these two, named Sif and Menteng, not even the threat of crocodiles is enough to keep them home and dry.
The behaviour was witnessed at an orangutan reserve in Indonesian Borneo, by Canadian professor Anne Russon, 64, who has studied the animals since 1989.
She said: 'They're sinkers and they know it, which is why they're very cautious anyway.
'Sif is a real water baby and she'd only try this if she was entirely confident she could reach her target without sinking.
'She uses it for serious purposes like crossing wide bodies of water too deep for wading, but could play in water for more than half an hour.
'Menteng has very advanced skills and in these pictures you see him picking a large fish out and inspecting it.
'Orangutans and other great apes are reputed, incorrectly it seems, to be afraid of water.
'Some probably are, but of course, so are some humans.
'They have drowned in zoos because they've fallen into water-filled moats surrounding their enclosure.
'There are also other things dangerous to them in water like crocodiles and large snakes - so there are many reasons water wouldn't be much of an attraction to them.'
The amazing pictures were taken at an orangutan rehabilitation facility called Nyaru Menteng in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, at the end of the dry season late last year.
Anne, from Toronto, Canada, is a psychologist so her research was psychology-bent - focusing on their behaviour, intelligence and learning.
She added: 'It's really useful for rehab, because rehab is mostly about how they learn the skills they need to survive in the forest.'
For pictures, read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394516/Im-king-swimmers-Rare-sighting-orang-utan-taking-dip-crocodile-infested-river.html#ixzz1VCPxJBTZ
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