ORANGUTANS
ORANGUTANS
The orangutan genus, Pongo, includes three species and three subspecies.
Pongo pygmaeus
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
The Bornean orangutan is one of three orangutan species; each is classified as a great ape and they are the only great apes native to Asia. Inhabiting equatorial Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, encompassing the countries of Indonesia (home to the species’ greatest population), Malaysia, and Brunei, Bornean orangutans live in lowland and hilly tropical and subtropical rainforests at elevations up to 2,625 feet, or a half-mile (800 m), above sea level. They make the rainforest…
Pongo abelii
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Orangutans are the only great apes found in Asia, specifically on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Fossils found in Java, China, and Vietnam indicate that they once roamed larger territories than they do today. Originally thought to be one species, two distinct species were recognized in 1996: Pongo abelii in Sumatra…
Pongo tapanuliensis
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Everything we know about the Tapanuli orangutan is limited to a single population remaining on the island of Sumatra, in a region called Batang Toru, south of Lake Toba. Less than 800 Tapanuli orangutans live here, restricted to the fragmented rainforests of this region’s uplands. Before this small population was discovered in...