Twitter | CFGA

Orangutan Goes Viral After Demonstrating How We Should All Be Washing Our Hands

An orangutan in Florida has recently gone viral after perfectly demonstrating the steps we should all be taking in order to keep ourselves and others safe during these uncertain times.

As FOX 35 reported, the 34-year-old ape named Sandra was filmed meticulously scrubbing her hands in soapy water, proving that there's absolutely no reason for any of us to be slacking on our own personal hygiene, either.

Information about the coronavirus pandemic is rapidly changing and Diply is committed to providing the most recent data as it becomes available. Some of the information in this story may have changed since publication, and we encourage readers to use online resources from CDC and WHO to stay up to date on the latest information surrounding COVID-19.

Sandra lives at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida.

Twitter | CFGA

The center's director, Patti Ragan, said the species is no stranger to practicing good hygiene.

"[Orangutans] do wash things in water, they'll wash their food, they like to play in water," she told FOX 35, adding that they're also particularly curious and watchful primates.

In a viral video recently posted to the center's Twitter account, we can see Sandra's expert hand washing technique in action.

Twitter | CFGA

Seated in front of a sudsy bucket, the orangutan carefully and meticulously scrubs her hands with a brush, making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies so her digits are as clean as possible.

"She definitely scrubbed her hands for longer than 20 seconds," the caption reads, "good job Sandra!"

Ragan said that one likely explanation for Sandra's sudden desire to wash her hands could have something to do with her caretakers.

“I think some of it is [orangutans] see the staff cleaning the environment around them,” she told FOX 35.

However, she also added that it could also simply amount to Sandra's and other orangutans' interest in playing in water and washing things, such as themselves.

Either way, that's some expert hand washing, and I think we should all make an effort to adopt the same routine now more than ever.

One Twitter user recently re-posted Sandra's hand washing video and reported that it took place during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

That post, which insisted the primate was copying the hygiene practices of her panicked "zookeepers", quickly went viral, racking up nearly 240,000 likes and 80,000 retweets in less than 24 hours.

"Wash your hands," its caption reads. "Be more like Sandra."

However, this viral tweet is actually wrong.

The video of Sandra, while an excellent example of how we should all be washing our hands right now, was actually filmed back in November 2019, according to a Facebook post from the center.

It's only resurfaced now because the center shared it to Twitter in an effort to encourage others to similarly scrub up.

So in the end this is actually an excellent lesson in hand washing, as well as not believing everything that you read online.

Although the viral video isn't actually showing us how even orangutans are taking extra precautions during the virus outbreak, we should still take a note from Sandra's book and make sure we're washing our hands as meticulously and as often as possible.

h/t: FOX 35