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Orangutan Facts from the WWF
Lets Draw an Orangutan!
Our favourite Orangutan Facts
There are 3 species of orangutans and they are all critically endangered.
The 3 species are: The Bornean, the Sumatran and the Tapanuli.
They live in the wild on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia.
There are just over 100,000 Bornean, less than 14,000 Sumatran, and less than 800 Tapanuli orangutans left.
They are the largest tree dwelling animals!
They spend most of their lives swinging through the canopies and need huge stretches of forest to find enough food and mates.
Deforestation and hunting are the biggest threats to orangutans.
Deforestation happens here for agriculture (Palm Oil for example) and infrastructure (such as roads), but forest fires are also becoming more frequent with climate change. The good news is that studies have shown deforestation is slowing down in Borneo.
And Indonesia and Malaysia are setting stronger requirements for forest protection.
They have REALLY LONG ARMS!
Orangutans have an arm span of about 2.2 m (over 7 ft) from fingertip to fingertip, that's one foot longer than Rosaleen's Dad
Sometimes They Eat With Their Feet!
Orangutans use both hands and feet while gathering food and travelling through the trees.
Like us, orangutans have four fingers and a thumb, and fingernails.
They are REALLY attached to their Mamas!
Young orangutans stay with their mother until they reach around 7 years old.
They spend this time learning everything from her – including what’s good to eat.
Infants are so attached to their mums that they ride on her body and sleep in her nest until they develop their own skills to survive on their own.
Orangutans only have babies once every 7 – 9 years, to give time for each baby to learn and stay with mama!
Orangutans can live to over 30 years old - and many live to 50.
They Sleep In Nests!
Orangutans like to be comfortable so they make a nest every night.
An orangutan makes its nest in around 10 minutes, by pulling several large branches together, using smaller branches for a mattress and binding the structure together by weaving in more branches.
In wet weather, they sometimes add a roof.
Credit: https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/fascinating-facts/orangutans
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