Basic Facts About Orangutans and the

Orangutans are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild (IUCN)

Sumatran

Bornean

Tapanuli

Key
Quick
Species & Scientific Names
Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus)
Sumatran (Pongo abelii)
Tapanuli (Pongo tapanuliensis)
Physical Size
4 to 5 feet tall
73 to 220 pounds
Arm length is longer than height and males have an armspan of up to 7 feet
Life Span
30 to 40 years in the wild
Reproduction & Parental Care
Gestation is 8.5 months and female orangutans normally give birth to one offspring every 6 to 8 years. Baby orangutans are completely dependent on their mothers and cling to them the first 2 years. Mothers nurse their young up to 8 years, carry them until age 5, and teach their offspring until age 10.
Habitat
In tropical rainforests, usually low-lying peat forests and other lush forests in Borneo and Sumatra. They build elaborate nests in tree branches each night, use leaves as tools and protection, and primarily move through the forest by way of trees.
Diet
Omnivore and nearly 90% of their diet is fruit. They eat over 400 different types of plants.
Social Oranization & Behavior
Semi-solitary and peaceful social system. Males are loners.
Communication & Vocalizations
Over 32 distinct vocalizations including kiss-squeak when excited or fearful , “raspberry” during nest building, “grumph” sounds when disturbed or annoyed, and long call when threatening others.
Strengths
Incredible intelligence, patience, curiosity, and wisdom; tremendous strength; sophisticated use of tools, agility in moving through the forest canopy.
Weaknesses
Clumsy and slow when traveling on foot (making them highly vulnerable); fearful and reluctant swimmers, and extremely low birth rates.
Natural Predators
Tigers, cloud leopards and pythons.
Human Threats
Habitat destruction and degradation, poaching, bush meat trade, human-orangutan conflict, and desease transmission.
Palm Oil
Palm oil is a highly versatile vegetable oil used in everything from processed foods, cosmetics, shampoo, cleaning products, candles, soaps and more. It’s also used as a bio-fuel and a protein source to fatten livestock.
Globally, it is the most heavily produced vegetable oil and it’s presence in consumer products is staggering—90% of the palm oil produced is used in consumer products, nearly 78% of foods contain it, 70% of cosmetics use palm oil derivatives as emulsifiers and surfactants, and nearly 50% of palm oil imported into the EU is used as biofuel. It’s ease in growing, high yield, and low production costs make palm oil popular crop for large and small-scale growers.
Demand for palm oil has exploded in the past 20 years and Indonesia supplies over half the world’s palm oil. Massive deforestation of primary forest—key to survival of Orangutans and all the plants and animals of this rich biodiverse habitat, is attributed to the advent of palm oil plantations, especially large-scale growers. Additionally, with such fragmented forest, human-orangutan conflict is increasingly common around palm oil plantations as orangutans in search of food enter the plantations. In this regard, they are often treated like “pests” and riddled with pellet guns, clubbed, or attacked with machetes. Palm oil cultivate on isn’t the only threat to Orangutans, but it is one of the key threats, and continues to squeeze Orangutans onto ever shrinking, degraded and fragmented parcels of forest.
The topic of palm oil is a highly controversial and polarizing one with no easy solutions. For purposes of saving Orangutans and all the other forest-dwelling inhabitants, Save Orangutans Now recommends eliminating or substantially limiting palm oil products and only choosing products that contain RSPO palm oil. Learn more about managing your consumption of palm oil below.

Reduce
Reduce your overall consumption of palm oil — processed foods are unhealthy anyway!