The Bornean gibbon is classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2015), appearing on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. This listing is based on the species’ loss in population of over 50% during the last 45 years, or three generations.

Borneo’s forests are estimated to be 140 million years old, and it has taken a mere 40 years to destroy nearly half of the island’s natural vegetation. One cause of habitat loss is the expansion of palm oil plantations throughout the island. Palm oil is the cheapest and most important tropical vegetable oil used in the global oils and fats industry. Significant swaths of prime habitat must be deforested to make room to cultivate this high-demand crop, impacting Bornean gibbons and the many other species that depend on the habitat for survival.

Another cause of habitat loss is forest fires. While some biomes experience forest fires as part of their natural, undisturbed processes, the rainforests of Borneo are not one of them. Forest fires are increasing in frequency and severity on Borneo as humans open up and dry out the usually lush, naturally fire-resistant forests. These fires impact human and animal health, destroy critical habitat, and weaken the ability of the forest to regrow. Even in areas not ravaged by habitat loss, Bornean gibbons are under threat of hunting, sometimes for supposed medicinal qualities in their long arm bones, or collected for the illegal pet trade.