Borneo orangutan
- Class: Mammals (Mammalia)
- Order: Primates (Primates)
- Family: Great apes & humans (Hominidae)
- Genus: Pongo
- Art: Species: Pongo pygmaeus
Size
The orangutan weighs between 65 and 90 kg. Females weigh half as much as males.
Ecology
Of all great apes, it is only orangutans that live outside of Africa. There are two species, the Sumatra and the Borneo orangutan, and both are the most arboreal and solitary of the great apes.
Adult orangutans are generally solitary, except for mother and offspring pairs; however, weaned juveniles sometimes congregate in small groups. Males are aggressive towards each other and fight for female attention.
Nightly, they construct a platform-style nest at a height of 12 to 18 m, and only briefly descend to the forest floor to obtain branches. These nests are made of vegetation, and are usually used only for a single night. orangutans construct roofs on their nests, making them a more advanced nest builder than other apes.
Food habits
Their diet mostly consists of fruit, leaves and shoots, but also larvae, eggs etc.
Longevity
orangutans live 35 years in the wild, in zoos up to 50 years.
Reproduction
The orangutan female reaches sexual maturity at 8 years of age, and bears young every 4 to 6 years. The gestation period is nine months.
Conservation status
In the past, the distribution of orangutans included large parts of the south-east Asian mainland and its islands, but today they inhabit only the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
The orangutan pet trade has been partly responsible for the decline of the species. Whilst illegal throughout the world, this brutal trade brings orangutans into captivity at a high price. As many as six to eight orangutans die for every one orangutan baby sold in a pet store. Infants’ mothers frequently are shot and killed, and many babies end up dying due to poor handling during transport to market. In addition, rapid habitat destruction has caused a precipitous decline in orangutan populations over the last two decades as rainforests are logged or land is cleared for agricultural uses.
IUCN Threat Category:
Endangered.
