Orangutans

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Orangutans are a type of primate called an ape. Other apes include gorillas, chimpanzees and humans! There are three species of orangutans, the Bornean Orangutan, the Sumatran Orangutan and the Tapanuli Orangutan.

Orangutans can be found living in tropical rainforests in Borneo and Sumatra, which are in the continent of Asia. The orangutans in both places are critically endangered, but there are far fewer orangutans left in Sumatra.

Orangutans are covered in orangey brown coloured fur. Male orangutans are quite big and when standing upright can be up to one and half metres tall. Female orangutans are about half the size. They are the largest animals that spend their lives living in trees. They have really long arms that they use to swing through the trees. Their arm span, which is the length from their fingertips on one hand to their fingertips on their other hand, can be two metres long for a large male orangutan.

Did you know...

Orangutans like other apes, do not have tails like a monkey. Orangutans completely rely on their powerful arms and legs to swing through the trees.

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Dominant male orangutans how much larger faces than other males or female orangutans.

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All three species of orangutan are critically endangered. They are in very real danger of becoming extinct.

One of the main reasons they are so endangered is because humans have been destroying their habitat to use it for other things, including using the space to grow palm oil. Orangutans can’t survive without their forest habitats. It’s where they build their nests, and also where they find their food. Another reason they are in danger of becoming extinct is because people catch them and then sell them as pets.

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Orangutans spend almost all of their time living up in the trees. They sleep in nests they have built up there, building a new one out of twigs and leaves every night. They also find their food, such as fruit, leaves, bark or insects in the tree tops and can even find water to drink which has collected in the branches of the trees. They much prefer to swing through the trees than walking on the ground.

Orangutans are omnivores, but mainly live off fruit. Their favourite fruit is Durian fruit. They love it but it’s the smelliest fruit in the world and smells of smelly socks and stinky rubbish!

Orangutans like to live on their own, not with other orangutans. Babies stay with their mother for a very long time though. Male orangutans at some point go off on their own.

Like other apes, orangutans are very clever. They have been known to learn sign language to communicate with humans and use things such as sticks and stones as tools.