Orangutan (adult male)

Sumatran orangutans face extinction in the next decade, with Bornean orangutans soon after.

1. They are found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.
2. Both species are critically endangered. In the past 60 years the population has declined by 60% with a projection of 82% over 75 years.
3. The name is derived from Malay and Indonesian words: orang meaning ‘person’ and hutan meaning ‘forest’. Orangutan, ‘person of the forest’.
4. Their habitat under threat from:
   1. forest fires
   2. fragmentation by roads
   3. the conversion of tropical forests to palm oil plantations
5. They risk:
   1. being killed to protect crops
   2. being hunted for traditional medicine
   3. being hunted with their bones secretly traded in some souvenir shops
   4. females being slaughtered so their babies can be sold as pets, many of which die without their mother’s help