ORANGUTANS
G'day folks,
Welcome to some facts on one of my favourite species. The orangutans are the two exclusively Asian species of extant
great apes. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are currently
found in only the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.
Orangutans are
great apes,
as opposed to monkeys, and are closely related to humans, having 97% of DNA in common.
Orangutans are
extremely patient and intelligent mammals. They are very observant and
inquisitive, and there are many stories of orangutans escaping from zoos after
having watched their keepers unlock and lock doors.
Height: males - about 1.5m;
females - about 1.2m
Weight:
males - 93 to 130 kg; females – 48 to 55 kg
Life Span:
60 years or more
Gestation:
about 8.5 months
Number of Young at Birth:
usually 1, very rarely 2
Extinction
in the wild is likely in the next 10 years for Sumatran orangutans and soon
after for Bornean orangutans. Both the Sumatran species (Pongo abelii)
and the Bornean species (Pongo pygmaeus) are classified as Critically
Endangered according to the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
The
Sumatran and Bornean Orangutans' rainforest habitats are disappearing at an
alarming rate due to deforestation and clearing of the land for pulp paper and
palm oil plantations, with the remaining forest degraded by drought and forest
fires.
- Logging is an obvious problem for
orangutans who spend their lives in trees.
- Fires endanger the orangutans and
the smoke confuses them leaving them vulnerable to death from loss of
habitat (food). Fires are commonly started to clear the land and
undergrowth for farming and palm oil plantations.
- Palm Oil Plantations are now the leading
suppliers for a global market that demands more of the tree's versatile
oil for cooking, cosmetics, and biofuel. But palm oil's appeal comes with
significant costs. Palm oil plantations often replace tropical forests,
killing endangered species, uprooting local communities, and contributing
to the release of climate-warming gases. The orangutans that are displaced
starve to death, are killed by plantation workers as pests, or die in the
fires.
- Poaching orangutan infants and hunting
for meat also threatens the species. Mothers are often killed for their
babies, which are then sold on the black market for pets as they are cute.
Babies cling to their mothers and suckle their mother’s milk until the age
of 6 years. Rescued infants are then rehabilitated by volunteers at
orangutan rescue centres. To support and help with the care of these
infants, you can Adopt an Orphan for as little as $65 a year.
·
Over 150
rehabilitated orangutans have been released into the forest area to date via
the TOP supported Bukit Tigapuluh Sumatran orangutan Reintroduction Project –
the only reintroduction site for the Critically Endangered Sumatran
orangutan.
·
PLAYFUL FACTS
·
In Malay
and Indonesian orang means "person" and utan is derived
from hutan, which means "forest." Thus, orangutan literally
means "person of the forest."
Orangutans' arms stretch out longer than their
bodies - over two metres from fingertip to fingertip - and are used to employ a
"hookgrip". When on the ground, they walk on all fours, using their
palms or their fists.
When male
orangutans reach maturity, they develop large cheek pads, which female
orangutans apparently find attractive.
When males are
fighting, they charge at each other and break branches. If that doesn't scare
one of them away, they grapple and bite each other.
For the first
4-6 years of his/her life, an infant orangutan holds tight to his/her mother's
body as she moves through the forest in search of fruit.
Like humans,
orangutans have opposable thumbs. Their big toes are also opposable.
Orangutans
have tremendous strength, which enables them to swing from branch to branch and
hang upside-down from branches for long periods of time to retrieve fruit and
eat young leaves.
Clancy's comment: I just love 'em. The day these beautiful animals become extinct, will be a day when hopefully, people will realize that they didn't do enough ... And it's too bloody late.
I'm ...
