Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)
Bornean orangutans live in the canopy of Borneo's tropical rain forests. Fruit is the most important component of their diet, but they also feed on insects, small vertebrates, leaves and bark. The estimated population of Bornean orangutans is only 12,000-15,000.
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Aping apes About the Bornean orangutan
The Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Together with the slightly smaller Sumatran Orangutan, it belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia.
The Bornean Orangutan has a life span of about 35 to 40 years in the wild; in captivity it can live to be 60. A survey of wild orangutans found that males are typically 75 kg (165 lb), ranging from 50-90 kg (110-199 lb), and 1.2-1.4 m (4-4.7 ft) long; females averaging 38.5 kg (82 lb), ranging from 30-50 kg (66-110 lb), and 1-1.2 m (3.3-4 ft) long.
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The Bornean orangutan is
Adaptation data provided by Animal Diversity Web
Where can I see them?
They can be found in the following habitats:
Conservation Status
The Bornean orangutan is Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
What's the threat?
Orangutan populations have crashed during the past 200 years, as a result of deforestation of their habitat. Today the species continues to be threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation as a result of legal and illegal logging, forest fires, illegal gold mining, and conversion to agriculture, in particular oil palm plantations. The species’ highly arboreal lifestyle makes them particularly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation, as they rarely travel long distances on the ground. More than 80% of orangutan habitat has been altered or destroyed by these factors. If this alarming rate of habitat loss continues then the orangutan may become extinct in the wild in as little as 10 years. Individuals that have lost their natural habitat sometimes enter oil palm estates, where they are often shot as pests. Mothers with babies are particularly vulnerable. They are often killed and the infants sold into the illegal pet trade. It is estimated that at least three orangutans are killed for each one that is captured and transported. The species is also hunted for meat in some areas. With such a low reproductive rate, the orangutan is particularly vulnerable to these threats. Small, fragmented populations are at considerable risk. Many of the remaining populations, particularly in Sumatra number fewer than 250 individuals. These small, isolated populations do not have the capacity to recover from population declines. A slight rise in female mortality rate of just 1-2% can drive a local population to extinction.
Information about the threat is provided by the Zoological Society of London's EDGE of Existence programme
Elsewhere on the web
- Bornean orang utan - Pongo pygmaeus (arkive.org)
- Pongo pygmaeus (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- Digimorph: skull scans and animation (digimorph.org)
- Bornean orangutans on the Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
- IUCN Red List information (iucnredlist.org)
- Orangutan conservation projects (orangutan.com)
- Bornean Orangutan (wikipedia.org)
- Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) (edgeofexistence.org)
Site links
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