- Scientific name: Pongo pygmaeus (Borneon Orangutan)
Pongo abelii (Sumatran Orangutan)
- Type: Mammal
- Diet: Omnivore
- Average life span in the wild: 30 to 40 years
- Size: Standing height, 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5m)
- Weight: 73 to 180 lbs (33 to 82 kg)
- Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage.
- SENSES: Excellent binocular vision.
- ANATOMY: They have a truly opposable thumb, so that the forefeet are really like hands. This inter digital grip allows them to pick fruit or grasp slender branches. The big toe is also opposable. Their cheek pads act as megaphones to project "long calls," which sounds like a loud roar. In addition, the pendulous laryngeal sac, when inflated, increases the resonant tone of the voice.
- Status: Endangered. Threatened by the destruction of its forest environment to make room for farms and villages, and to harvest lumber.
LOCATION
The Bornean Orangutan lives in the subtropical and tropical broad leaf forests in the lowlands and mountainous areas in the island of Borneo. Orangutans are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, though fossils have been found in Java, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Vietnam and Mainland China.
WHY ENDANGERED?
-Destruction of natural forests and unreliable food sources-Illegal animal trade
Wild orang-utan populations need a reliable source of a variety of fruits and young leaves to survive. They can survive only in extensive natural forests. The availability of food all year round means not all forests can support long-term breeding populations. We now know that this gentle ape can survive only in lowlands - where fertile soils and constant water availability allow steady food production - or where there are several forest types with different fruiting and leaf-producing seasons. There is little point in putting orang-utans where they have historically not existed, as lack of food supply may eventually cause them to die.
-Illegal logging
-Forest Fire
-Orangutans are occasionally hunted and eaten by some of the indigenous peoples of Borneo.
GROUPS THAT HELP
Malaysia WWF
Sabah Forestry Department Kinabatangan
Sabah Wildlife Department
GROUP MEMBERS:
Nur Azliza
Nur Syahirah
Thashini K
Lee Foong Wen
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