The shy and solitary orangutan is second only to the gorilla in size among the primates. Found solely on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, its population has decreased drastically. Of the three great apes, the orangutan, the chimpanzee, and the gorilla, the orangutan is the only one to live outside Africa.  Hidden in he dense tropical rain forests which are its home, it is also unique among apes for being truly forest dwelling.

Facts and Knowledge:

Habits:  The orangutan lives a solitary life in the treetops of the rain forest.  With the exception of adult males, orangutan is a diurnal animal, that is , active during daylight  hours.  At night, females and young sleep in a nest of banshees placed in the fork of a tree.  Because males are heavier, they generally prefer to sleep on the ground.  All orangutans sleep on their sides with their arms cushioning their heads.  At day break, orangutans leave their nest and search for food.  Orangutans are far less sociable than other apes and do not live in large social groups.  Adults males are particularly solitary and stake out areas of forest which they defend as their own territories, fighting other males who intrude it necessary. Females occasionally group together loosely with their young.

Breeding: A dominant male orangutan may have a large breeding territory and mate with several females.  mating accrues year round and females give birth to a single offspring every 3 - 6 years.  A baby orangutan grows very slowly.  It ay become somewhat independent at 3 years of age, but it will stay with its mother until she gives birth again.  Because female orangutans do not mate again until an offspring is at least 3 years old, they may only succeed in raising two to three young in a lifetime.

Food & Feeding:  Fruit, nuts, leaves, bark, insects, and eggs form the diet of an orangutan.  when the food supply in particular area is plentiful, an orangutan may remain in one place for a period of time to feed.  Although several orangutans may feed rom the same tree, there is little social interaction or competition among them.  Orangutans, like the other apes, appear to be highly intelligent.  They have the ability to  memorize the geography of their surroundings and will travel great distances to find trees that have ripe fruit.  When orangutans are thirsty, they locate a hollow in a tree where the water has collected from past rainstorms.

Orangutan and Man: The orangutan poses no threat to man, yet man is its only enemy.  The orangutan's natural habitat has been destroyed to provide land and timber for an increasing human population.  Female orangutans are slaughtered so that their babies ca be captured for zoos.  The baby orangutans often die in captivity. Since the breeding rate of the orangutan is relatively slow, its numbers have not recovered and it is now a seriously endangered species.

Key Facts: Sizes, Weight, breeding, lifestyle, related Species
Length: Males, 4ft, females, 3 ft.
Weight: 90 to 110 lbs

Breeding:
Sexual Maturity: 8 to 10 years.
Mating Season: Year round.
Gestation: 260 - 270 days
No of Young: Usually 1, occasionally twins but rare

Lifestyle:
Habit: Diurnal and mainly solitary
Diet:  Tropical fruits, leaves, shoots, bark, insects, and eggs.
Life span: Average 35 years.
Call: Squeaks and whines, Adult males make long, bubbling calls and also roar.

Related Species: There is one species of of orangutan, with two subspecies living in Borneo and Sumatra.
Distribution: Restricted to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra
Conservation: In spite of the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong prohibiting their import and export, orangutans are seriously endangered. Protection schemes have had some success in returning orangutans bred in captivity to the wild, but they need to have secure areas provided in their natural habitat.

Features of Orangutan:

An orangutan is a heavy bodied animal. It uses its weight to swing back and forth on the branch it is holding, until it comes close enough to reach out and grab a branch of the next tree.  The orangutan moves slowly and carefully through the trees, using all four limbs.  Its hands and feet are designed for holding and grasping branches, and its immensely powerful arms enable it to swing and climb in the trees easily.  The big toe on each foot can rotate to touch the ends of the other toes, like the thumb on our hands.  In effect, the orangutan has four "hands" for climbing trees and grasping branches..  On the ground, the orangutan walks on all fours limbs, with the feet bent inward and clenched, and the arms either placed flat or clenched on the ground.

Did you know?
Because the orangutan spends most of its life in trees, its arms are longer and stronger than any other apes.
"Orang" and "utan" are the Malay words for "man" and "jungle".  The literal meaning of the name, therefore, is "man of the jungle."
Centuries ago, orangutans were much larger than they are today. Fossil remains show that a species of giant orangutan existed in China 5000,0900 years ago.

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