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Did You Know?
Translated from Malay, orangutan means "person of the forest," but it is not the word for orangutan used by local people. The Malay word for orangutan is maias or mawas.
Viewing Hints
If you see a pile of sheets or cardboard start to move in the orangutan exhibit, it's probably an orangutan. Orangutans seem to enjoy covering themselves with whatever is available and may drag material high in a tree with them.
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Sumatran orangutan
Pongo abelii
| Size |
Head and body length are approximately 45 to 60 inches, with males substantialy larger than females. |
| Weight |
Male orangutans are much larger than females. Males weigh approximately 130 - 245 pounds. Females weigh approximately 88-135 pounds. |
| Conservation Status |
On the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species, the Sumatran orangutan is listed as Critically Endangered. |
| Diet |
Orangutans eat a wide variety of fruits, including a high proportion of figs. They also eat a variety of other plants parts.
At the Zoo, orangutans eat a variety of chows that have been formulated especially for primates, fruits and vegetables, including bananas, grapes and lettuce. Keepers also scatter popcorn, peanuts or cereals, for the orangs to search for.
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| Geographic Range |
There are two species of orangutans. The Sumatran orangutan lives in northern Sumatra, an island off of southeast Asia that is part of Indonesia. The other species, the Bornean orangutan, is found on the island of Borneo.
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| Where to find me in the Zoo |
PECO Primate Reserve |
Note: Description below should include Longevity, Behavior, and Reproduction information
Sumatran orangutans are one of the great apes and among the largest of all primates. They are also among the most endangered - scientists estimated that there were only 3500 surviving in the wild in 2002, and numbers were continuing to drop.
Orangutans exhibit a pronounced physical difference between males and females. This male/female difference is called sexual dimorphism. Besides being much larger than females, adult males have large cheek pads or flanges, a large pouch on the throat, and also develop “beards” as they grow older. The pouch can be inflated and is used as an aid in vocalizing. The throat pouch and cheek pads give the male face a huge fleshy appearance. These features are much less developed in females.
Orangutans are covered with a sparse, coarse, long, shaggy hair which, in adults, can be maroon or dark reddish brown to burnt sienna in color. Youngsters are bright orange. An adult orangutan's face is mostly bare with dark skin. Sumatran orangutans tend to be slimmer than Bornean orangutans, with longer faces, and the fur is usually longer and paler. Sumatran males usually have smaller cheek pads than Bornean males.
Orangutans can be found in several types of forests, including undisturbed densely wooded swamps and forests at low altitudes and mountainous forests.
In the wild, orangutans may live up to 35 years old or more, but information is limited. In zoos, they can live as long as 50 years, longer in rare instances. Guarina and Guas, a pair of orangutans at the Philadelphia Zoo, lived to be about 57 and 58 years old, respectively. This amazing pair still holds the longevity record for orangutans.
Care of the youngster is exclusively by the mother. Female orangutans invest a lot in each baby. Gestation is about eight months and the infant nurses for about three and a half years, although it will start to eat solid foods when it is about four months old. As the infant grows, it becomes less and less dependent on its mother, but may not fully strike out on its own until at least six years old. Because of this heavy investment in each baby, female orangutans may go eight years between offspring.
Orangutans are primarily arboreal--they spend most of their time high above in trees. They're the only members of the great ape family to spend most of their time off the ground. Their legs are short, but they have long, muscular arms to help them climb.They use their hands and feet to climb, grasping and swaying their way between trees. Orangutans can also walk on two feet, but locomotion on the ground is usually quadrupedal (on four feet). They build a nest of branches and leaves in a tree each evening.
Orangutans are the least social of the great apes. Generally, adult male orangutans spend most of their time alone, while females usually travel with just their infant or juvenile offspring. However, female Sumatran orangutans do tend to spend some time with other adult females, perhaps relatives. Male orangutans hold a large territories that they defend from other males and that may overlap the territories of several females. Males make a series of echoing grunts that can be heard perhaps a half mile away, which announce territory or attract females. This call is probably amplified by the throat pouch and other anatomical characteristics.
Tua: Born at Zoo Atlanta on November 4, 1992. Tua arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 23,
1999, and has been a resident of PECO Primate Reserve since it opened on July 1, 1999.
Sugi (Sugriwa): Born at the St. Louis Zoo on December 31, 1995. Sugi arrived at the Philadelphia
Zoo on December 15, 2006 and was introduced to his new mate Tua on February 15, 2007, the
day after Valentine's Day.
Enrichment
Adoption Information
Featured Foster Parent
Tua is a very playful orangutan. She loves to hide under blankets, boxes, etc. and then pull them off for her keepers. Sugi is new to the Zoo. He arrived from St. Louis in December 2006 and quickly became attached to Tua. Although still relatively young for an orangutan, Sugi's already showing signs that he's going to be a big boy. He already has large cheek pouches and a pronounced beard, features that are prominent in adult male orangs. Both use the vertical space in their dayroom and outdoor exhibit and can often be found high in the trees when outside.
Enrichment
The orangutan is threatened with extinction. Its numbers are currently dwindling as a result of deforestation and poaching. Orangutans are legally protected from hunting, capture, killing and trade on both the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Enforcement of these laws is improving, but not that effective.
The Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a dwindling population of orangutans found in Sabah, a region of Borneo, the third largest island in the world. In addition to "orangs," these almost 64,250 acres of fragmented forests are also home to a rich diversity of plants and animals including pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys, Sumatran rhinos, clouded leopards, more than 300 species of birds and countless reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. The Island also offers many unique scientific opportunities for study and its potential has yet to be realized. In the last year alone, 52 new species of animals and plants were discovered.
Unfortunately, Borneo's forests have been disappearing at an alarming rate due to logging, which provides the world with half of its tropical timber. An increasing number of palm oil plantations are also taking their toll; in the last 20 years, 80% of the Kinabatangan River Region has been destroyed and converted into palm oil plantations.
Though orangutan populations in Borneo are currently still able to support themselves, deforestation has separated them into isolated groups reducing genetic variability in their offspring. The Philadelphia Zoo is supporting the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project (KOCP), an initiative founded by Hutan, a French non-governmental organization, in collaboration with the Sabah Wildlife Department.
KOCP focuses on orangutan conservation using field research, community involvement and ecotourism support. The project also uses innovative techniques such as stringing man-made rope bridges between remaining pockets of habitat to unite isolated groups.
- Buy wood products made with sustainably-harvested timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
- "Adopt" an orangutan through the Philadelphia Zoo.
- Save energy. Most of the oil palms grown in Borneo are to produce biofuel. If we can reduce our use of energy, including "clean" energy like biofuel, fewer forests will be converted to oil palm plantations.
Zoo Research
Fun Facts
Orangutan comes from two Malay words which mean "forest man or people." Local people thought the orangutan was a different people who would not speak to them because they refused to work.
The orangutan, like other great apes, can recognize itself in the mirror and has the ability to learn sign language.
Conservation
Introductions
Animal Lingo
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Sources:
1) Philadelphia Zoo staff;
2) IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 04 January 2008.
3) Wich, S.A.; Singleton, I.; Utami-Atmoko, S.S.; Geurts, M.L.; Rijksen, H.D. & van Schaik, C.P. (2003). The status of the Sumatran orangutan Pongo abelii: an update. Oryx 37 (1): 49-54.
4) Cawthon Lang KA. 2005 June 13. Primate Factsheets: Orangutan (Pongo) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology. . Accessed 2007 September 3.
5) Setia, T.M. & van Schaik, C.P. (2007). The response of adult oarng-utans to flanged male long calls: inferences about their function. Folia Primatologica 78: 215-226.
6) Singleton, I. & van Schaik, C.P. (2002). The social organisation of a population of Sumatran orangutans. Folia Primatologica 73: 1-20.
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