Why is the Orangutan in Danger?
Orangutans are an endangered species according to most wildlife monitoring organizations and conservation groups. Ten thousand years ago, orangutans were found throughout Southeast Asia ranging all the way into southern China. Their populations probably numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
Unfortunately, the species today is found only in limited populations on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Due to the destructive activities of humans, the wild population may have diminished in the past decade by as much as 50%. Estimates of the current population are from less than 50,000 to 60,000 with more than three quarters of all orangutans found on Borneo.
Source: http://www.orangutan.org/danger.php
Unfortunately, the species today is found only in limited populations on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Due to the destructive activities of humans, the wild population may have diminished in the past decade by as much as 50%. Estimates of the current population are from less than 50,000 to 60,000 with more than three quarters of all orangutans found on Borneo.
Source: http://www.orangutan.org/danger.php
About Orang Orangutan
Orangutans are large apes that live in southeast Asia (on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra). These apes mostly live in trees (they are arboreal) and swing from branch to branch using their arms.
The word orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay language. As its habitats are being usurped by man, the orangutan's population is decreasing and it is in grave danger of extinction.
ANATOMY
Orangutans have a large, bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla.
Hair:
They are mostly covered with long reddish-brown hair.
The Head:
The orangutan has a large head with a prominent mouth area. Adult males have large cheek flaps (which get larger as the ape ages).
Senses:
Orangutans have senses very similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.
Hands and Feet:
Orangutan hands are very much like ours; they have four long fingers plus an opposable thumb. Their feet have four long toes plus an opposable big toe. Orangutans can grasp things with both their hands and their feet. The largest males have an arm span of about 7.5 feet (2.3 m).
SIZE
Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla.
Height Weight
Female 2.6-3.5 ft (0.8-1.1 m) 110 lb (50 kg)
Male 3.2-4.5 ft (1-1.4 m) 200 lb (90 kg)
DIET
Orangutans are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals) but are mostly herbivorous (plants comprise most of their diet). They eat fruit (their favorite food), leaves, seeds, tree bark, plant bulbs, tender plant shoots, and flowers. They also eat insects and small animals (like birds and small mammals).
Orangutans don't even have to leave their tree branches to drink, they drink water that has collected in the holes between tree branches.
INTELLIGENCE AND LANGUAGE
Orangutans are very intelligent. They have been known to use found objects as tools; for example, they use leaves as umbrellas to keep the rain from getting them wet. They also use leaves as cups to help them drink water.
BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL HABITS
Orangutans are shy, solitary animals that are active during the day (they are diurnal). They live alone in large territories. This is probably due to their eating habits; they need a large area in order to get enough food and too many orangutans in one area might lead to starvation.
The only long-lasting orangutan social group is the mother and offspring, who live together for about 7 years. When mating, the male and female orangutan stay together for only a few days.
Sleeping Platforms:
Each evening, orangutans construct a "nest" in the tree branches for the night in which they will curl up and sleep. These nests are made out of leaves and branches. Nests are shared by a mother and her nursing offspring. Sometimes, the orangutan will use a leaf as a "roof" to protect itself from the rain. Orangutans often nap in the afternoon after a morning spent obtaining food.
COMMUNICATION AND VOCALIZATION
Male orangutans are capable of very long, loud calls (called "long calls") that carry through forests for up to 0.6 mile (1 km). The "long call" is made up of a series of sounds followed by a bellow. These calls help the male claim his territory, call to females, and keep out intruding male orangutans. Males have a large throat sac that lets them make these loud calls.
LOCOMOTION
Orangutans usually move by swinging from one branch to another; this is called brachiating. Orangutans can also walk using their legs (but rarely do). Orangutans do not swim.
LIFE SPAN
Orangutans live about 50 years in captivity; their life span in the wild is only 30-45 years (like most animals, they live longer in captivity).
HABITAT
Orangutans live in tropical rain forests.
DISTRIBUTION
Orangutans live in Asia. They are the only great ape from Asia. They are found in tropical rain forests in northern Sumatra, Indonesia and in low-lying swamps in Borneo.
* Subspecies (perhaps a subspecies) Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (From Borneo, with a round face and dark red hair;)
* Subspecies (perhaps a subspecies) Pongo pygmaeus abelii (From Sumatra, with a narrow face and paler hair)
REPRODUCTION AND BABY ORANGUTANS
Orangutans are mature and capable of reproducing beginning when they are 7 to 10 years old. Females are pregnant for 8.5 to 9 months and give birth to a single baby. Young orangutans are weaned from their mothers at about 6-7 years of age.
NATURAL ENEMIES
The animal that poses the biggest threat to the orangutan is man (who uses its habitat and sells young orangutans as pets).
POPULATION
Orangutans are an endangered species. They are decreasing in numbers quickly as they lose habitat to people. Further aggravating the problem, baby orangutans are caught and sold around the world as pets.
THE EVOLUTION OF ORANGUTANS
The earliest-known primates date from about 70 million years ago (Macdonald, 1985). The greater apes (family Pongidae, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans) split off from the lesser apes (family Hylobatidae, gibbons and siamangs) 20 million years ago.
Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/apes/orangutan/
The word orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay language. As its habitats are being usurped by man, the orangutan's population is decreasing and it is in grave danger of extinction.
ANATOMY
Orangutans have a large, bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla.
Hair:
They are mostly covered with long reddish-brown hair.
The Head:
The orangutan has a large head with a prominent mouth area. Adult males have large cheek flaps (which get larger as the ape ages).
Senses:
Orangutans have senses very similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.
Hands and Feet:
Orangutan hands are very much like ours; they have four long fingers plus an opposable thumb. Their feet have four long toes plus an opposable big toe. Orangutans can grasp things with both their hands and their feet. The largest males have an arm span of about 7.5 feet (2.3 m).
SIZE
Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla.
Height Weight
Female 2.6-3.5 ft (0.8-1.1 m) 110 lb (50 kg)
Male 3.2-4.5 ft (1-1.4 m) 200 lb (90 kg)
DIET
Orangutans are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals) but are mostly herbivorous (plants comprise most of their diet). They eat fruit (their favorite food), leaves, seeds, tree bark, plant bulbs, tender plant shoots, and flowers. They also eat insects and small animals (like birds and small mammals).
Orangutans don't even have to leave their tree branches to drink, they drink water that has collected in the holes between tree branches.
INTELLIGENCE AND LANGUAGE
Orangutans are very intelligent. They have been known to use found objects as tools; for example, they use leaves as umbrellas to keep the rain from getting them wet. They also use leaves as cups to help them drink water.
BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL HABITS
Orangutans are shy, solitary animals that are active during the day (they are diurnal). They live alone in large territories. This is probably due to their eating habits; they need a large area in order to get enough food and too many orangutans in one area might lead to starvation.
The only long-lasting orangutan social group is the mother and offspring, who live together for about 7 years. When mating, the male and female orangutan stay together for only a few days.
Sleeping Platforms:
Each evening, orangutans construct a "nest" in the tree branches for the night in which they will curl up and sleep. These nests are made out of leaves and branches. Nests are shared by a mother and her nursing offspring. Sometimes, the orangutan will use a leaf as a "roof" to protect itself from the rain. Orangutans often nap in the afternoon after a morning spent obtaining food.
COMMUNICATION AND VOCALIZATION
Male orangutans are capable of very long, loud calls (called "long calls") that carry through forests for up to 0.6 mile (1 km). The "long call" is made up of a series of sounds followed by a bellow. These calls help the male claim his territory, call to females, and keep out intruding male orangutans. Males have a large throat sac that lets them make these loud calls.
LOCOMOTION
Orangutans usually move by swinging from one branch to another; this is called brachiating. Orangutans can also walk using their legs (but rarely do). Orangutans do not swim.
LIFE SPAN
Orangutans live about 50 years in captivity; their life span in the wild is only 30-45 years (like most animals, they live longer in captivity).
HABITAT
Orangutans live in tropical rain forests.
DISTRIBUTION
Orangutans live in Asia. They are the only great ape from Asia. They are found in tropical rain forests in northern Sumatra, Indonesia and in low-lying swamps in Borneo.
* Subspecies (perhaps a subspecies) Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (From Borneo, with a round face and dark red hair;)
* Subspecies (perhaps a subspecies) Pongo pygmaeus abelii (From Sumatra, with a narrow face and paler hair)
REPRODUCTION AND BABY ORANGUTANS
Orangutans are mature and capable of reproducing beginning when they are 7 to 10 years old. Females are pregnant for 8.5 to 9 months and give birth to a single baby. Young orangutans are weaned from their mothers at about 6-7 years of age.
NATURAL ENEMIES
The animal that poses the biggest threat to the orangutan is man (who uses its habitat and sells young orangutans as pets).
POPULATION
Orangutans are an endangered species. They are decreasing in numbers quickly as they lose habitat to people. Further aggravating the problem, baby orangutans are caught and sold around the world as pets.
THE EVOLUTION OF ORANGUTANS
The earliest-known primates date from about 70 million years ago (Macdonald, 1985). The greater apes (family Pongidae, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans) split off from the lesser apes (family Hylobatidae, gibbons and siamangs) 20 million years ago.
Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/apes/orangutan/
Malaysia's orangutans in trouble
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian wildlife rangers are trying to rescue scores of displaced orangutans, gibbons and macaques believed to be roaming through oil palm plantations on Borneo island after the illegal destruction of their jungle habitats.
The endangered primates face starvation or capture by poachers after being squeezed out of a 200 hectares rainforest area cleared in May to create space for new plantations, said Stephen Gibin Sira, a wildlife officer in Malaysia's eastern Sabah state. "We are working hard to save each of them," Sira said.
Nine orangutans have been found by rangers in the past two weeks and sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Sabah state, where they appear to be adapting well to their new environment, Sira said.Officials believe more than 20 orangutans, besides unknown numbers of gibbons, pigtail macaques and wild boars, are wandering through plantations bordering the decimated jungles.
'We are working hard to save each of them'
Sira said the operators of a state-owned plantation firm that cleared the forest have claimed they were unaware of laws requiring them to submit a 30-day notice of their plan to the state wildlife department so that animals could be relocated.The Sabah government is considering whether the district managers of Borneo Samudera Plantation should be prosecuted under wildlife protection laws that provide for prison sentences of up to five years and fines up to 100Â 000 ringgit (R164Â 320), Sira said.
The company is also expected to bear the expenses of the rescue operation.
Rapid development, rampant logging and the spread of plantations have encroached on this south-east Asian country's once vast jungles in recent decades, devastating habitats of animals such as elephants, tigers, leopards and panthers.
Orangutans living in the wild are found exclusively on Borneo, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, as well as Indonesia's Sumatra island. Activists estimate there are fewer than 30Â 000 orangutans remaining worldwide, including those kept in zoos
The endangered primates face starvation or capture by poachers after being squeezed out of a 200 hectares rainforest area cleared in May to create space for new plantations, said Stephen Gibin Sira, a wildlife officer in Malaysia's eastern Sabah state. "We are working hard to save each of them," Sira said.
Nine orangutans have been found by rangers in the past two weeks and sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Sabah state, where they appear to be adapting well to their new environment, Sira said.Officials believe more than 20 orangutans, besides unknown numbers of gibbons, pigtail macaques and wild boars, are wandering through plantations bordering the decimated jungles.
'We are working hard to save each of them'
Sira said the operators of a state-owned plantation firm that cleared the forest have claimed they were unaware of laws requiring them to submit a 30-day notice of their plan to the state wildlife department so that animals could be relocated.The Sabah government is considering whether the district managers of Borneo Samudera Plantation should be prosecuted under wildlife protection laws that provide for prison sentences of up to five years and fines up to 100Â 000 ringgit (R164Â 320), Sira said.
The company is also expected to bear the expenses of the rescue operation.
Rapid development, rampant logging and the spread of plantations have encroached on this south-east Asian country's once vast jungles in recent decades, devastating habitats of animals such as elephants, tigers, leopards and panthers.
Orangutans living in the wild are found exclusively on Borneo, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, as well as Indonesia's Sumatra island. Activists estimate there are fewer than 30Â 000 orangutans remaining worldwide, including those kept in zoos
Fact About Orang Utan
We know that orangutan is special creature. they have 96.4% of human DNA. can you believe that? they almost same like us. Many species of orangutan are extinguish. Orangutan in Malaysia and Indonesia are the only strictly arboreal ape, meaning that they spend their lives in the forest canopy, even building nests in the trees in which to sleep.
Orangutans primarily eat fruit, and spend up to 60% of their time foraging and eating in order to get enough energy.
Orangutans are highly intelligent and gentle animals. They use tools in the wild and have excellent memories to make mental maps of their forest home in order to find fruiting trees throughout the seasons. That is why we call them unique.
Orangutans primarily eat fruit, and spend up to 60% of their time foraging and eating in order to get enough energy.
Orangutans are highly intelligent and gentle animals. They use tools in the wild and have excellent memories to make mental maps of their forest home in order to find fruiting trees throughout the seasons. That is why we call them unique.
About Us
hello peeps.!
we are from SMK Kiaramas.
eventhough PMR is around the corner,we would like to participate to conserve orangutan in Malaysia.actually we do this for just to show that we are such a care to orangutan and it's habitat.moreover we want our next generation to know who or what orangutan is.
we are from SMK Kiaramas.
eventhough PMR is around the corner,we would like to participate to conserve orangutan in Malaysia.actually we do this for just to show that we are such a care to orangutan and it's habitat.moreover we want our next generation to know who or what orangutan is.
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