Orang-utan

Orang-utan

Orang-utans are the largest tree-living mammals in the world. There are 2 subspecies: the Bornean Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the Sumatran Orang-utan (Pongo abelli). The Sumatran Orang-utan has a narrower face and longer beard than the Bornean, which is darker in colour.

Sumatran Orang-utans are about 1.25-1.5 metres tall. Adult males weigh up to 90kg, and females up to 50kg. Orang-utans are largely solitary, unlike the other great apes, and spend much of their time foraging for fruit high up in the canopy of the rainforest. They rarely come to the ground and will build nests out of leaves and branches each night in the treetops.

Loss of their rainforest habitat due to logging and palm oil plantations, as well as hunting for the pet trade, has these amazing ‘people of the forest’ on the brink of extinction.

Did you know?

  • This large gentle ape shares 97% of our DNA making it one of our closest relatives 
  • Like the other great apes, Orang-utans are highly intelligent, as seen in their advanced tool use and problem solving abilities.
  • An Orang-utan’s arms stretch out longer than its body - over 2m from fingertip to fingertip.  On the ground, it walks on all fours, using its palms or fists.
  • Apart from humans, the orang-utan has the longest childhood dependence on a mother of any animal in the world (9 years)
  • Male orangutans develop large cheek pads at about 15 years. They apparently act as a megaphone for their long calls.

Our Orang-utans

  • Santan - Male dob 12/10/77
  • Kiani - Female dob 24/06/78
  • Maimunah - Female dob 23/05/86
  • Gabby - Female dob 01/01/90
  • Menyaru - Male dob 29/07/03
Class
Mammalia
Order

Primatea

Family

Hominidae

Species Name

Pongo abelli

Status
Critically Endangered