Wildlife
Sumatran orangutans are even more endangered than their Bornean counterparts, with numbers in the wild estimated at under 8,000. They are only found in the forests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and are the largest of the tree-dwelling primates. They rarely venture out of the canopy where they build nests to sleep or nap in. A large appetite for fruit makes these primates very important to forest ecology as dispersers of seeds.
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Forest education
It takes a long time to learn how to live an orangutan's life.
Female orangutans look after their children for longer than any other primates except humans. And no wonder: there is a lot to learn in the rainforests of Sumatra. How to catch ants and termites, for exampe. Which plants to eat and which to avoid. How to build a secure nest. And how to cope with the daily rainfall without getting wet through.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Sumatran orangutan can be found in a number of locations including: Asia. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Sumatran orangutan distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Critically Endangered
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is one of the two species of orangutans. Found only on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, it is rarer than the Bornean orangutan.
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Helpless young
Learning
Tree dweller
Adapted to climbing
Tactile sense
Acoustic communication
Herbivorous
Nomadic
Parental investment
Polygynous
Seed dispersal
Territorial
Tool use
Visual communication
Viviparous