What do orangutans live in

Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big.

Environment As the EU targets emissions cuts, this country has a coal problem. Paid Content How Hong Kong protects its sea sanctuaries.

History Magazine These 3,year-old giants watched over the cemeteries of Sardinia. Magazine How one image captures 21 hours of a volcanic eruption. Science Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. The largest remaining species of orangutans is the Bornean species Pongo pygmaeus.

However, recent estimates reveal that only between 50, and , orangutans live in the wild in Borneo today. Even more critical is the pressure on the orangutans in Sumatra, where populations of less than 14, Pongo abelii and Pongo tapanuliensis orangutans also face the overwhelming risk of extinction.

The latest estimates from the IUCN indicate a general annual loss of 3,, orangutans. Orangutans have the longest birth interval of any land mammal in the world. The females usually reproduce once every six to eight years, and like humans, the orangutan typically has only one offspring. Additionally, the orangutan infant is dependent on its mother for up to eight years after its birth before it acquires the skills necessary to survive on its own.

Because of this dependency, the reproduction cycle of the orangutan is slower than in other primates. A wild orangutan can live for up to 45 years, and an orangutan in captivity can live for up to 60 years.

Orangutans are one of the closest human relatives in the animal kingdom, and humans and orangutans share 97 percent of the same DNA. Danum Valley forms part of a km 2 rainforest reserve and harbours some of the richest concentrations of wildlife anywhere on Borneo, including healthy populations of orangutans.

Birdwatching is excellent, too: open areas attract mixed flocks, while noisy wreathed, wrinkled and rhinoceros hornbills are conspicuous near fruiting trees. An early morning stroll on the canopy walkway provides spectacular treetop views and the chance of seeing orangutans or other primates. This is not only a great destination for seeing wild orangutans, it is probably the best place in the world to spot proboscis monkeys and Bornean pygmy elephants, as well as a vast array of birds and reptiles.

Proboscis monkey picking his sizeable nose. The majority of the lodges are in Sukau, some 80km upriver from the coast. The wildlife is remarkably tolerant of people on the water — important, because most of your time will be spent in boats. Encounters with orangutans, both along the main river and its tributaries, and around oxbow lakes, are reasonably frequent. If there is a large tree in fruit, one or more individuals can take up residence nearby for several days. Long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques are common, too.

Lying just inland from the south coast of Borneo, Tanjung Puting covers 3,km 2 of lowland dipterocarp and peat-swamp forest. It is the largest protected area in Central Kalimantan and one of the most important sanctuaries for wild orangutans on Borneo. A month-old baby Bornean orangutan called Petra at Camp Leakey. In , releases into the park stopped. Today it supports a thriving population of wild and previously released orangutans.

Rehabilitated individuals are now introduced into Lamandau, a recently gazetted nature reserve created from an expired logging concession to the west of the national park itself.

To date, more than rescued animals have been reintroduced there, along with some wild adults relocated from other sites. In addition, Tanjung Puting hosts a wide range of other wildlife. Watch out for sizeable populations of proboscis monkeys, agile gibbons and silvered langurs, plus birdlife including several species of hornbill, egrets, herons and storks. Great hornbill in flight. The park and Camp Leakey are a further two hours along the blackwater Sekonyer River.

This is the only place where you have a realistic chance of seeing Sumatran orangutans, notably at Bohorok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre near the village of Bukit Lawang.

Since the centre opened in , more than successful reintroductions have been achieved. That programme ceased in due to a lack of funding and overpopulation of the apes in the immediate area, but wild and rehabilitated animals remain in the vicinity and return regularly to a feeding platform, providing excellent viewing opportunities.

Most visitors to Borneo and Sumatra head for rehabilitation centres where sightings are virtually guaranteed. Choose monthly donation Prefer a one-off donation? Choose one-off donation Prefer a monthly donation? Top 10 facts about orangutans. Adopt an orangutan. There are 3 species of orangutan The Bornean, the Sumatran and the recently confirmed new species as of , the Tapanuli.

Orangutans are the heaviest tree-dwelling animal They spend most of their lives swinging through the canopies and need vast stretches of forest to find enough food and mates. They've got long arms Orangutans have an arm span of about 2. They don't mind eating with their feet Orangutans are incredibly dexterous and use both hands and feet while gathering food and travelling through the trees. They learn everything they need to know from mum Young orangutans stay with their mother until they reach around 7 years old.

Males are majestic Some adult male orangutans develop flaps of fatty tissue on both sides of their face - known as flanges - which develop when they're fully mature, at around 35 years old. Orangutans can live to over 30 years old - and many live to Studies show that some females may consider flanges when selecting a mate.

They build nests to sleep in Orangutans like to be comfortable.