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Orangutans are great apes , a compartmentalisation that includes gorilla , chimpanzees , bonobos and humans . They are the only great apes regain in Asia . Orangutans are also the world ’s largest arboreal mammals , which means they are the largest mammal that have the potentiality to live in trees .

Orangutans are endangered . They have become extinct in some parts of Asia , harmonize to theSan Diego Zoo . Most of their woodland habitat in Borneo and Sumatra has been lost to make room for palm oil grove .

orangutan swinging from a vine

Apes, such as the orangutan, have long arms ideally suited for swinging in trees and vines, whereas monkeys often have tails for grasping branches.

Size

orangutang are covered in long , hang red or orangish pelt , except for their distinguishable marginal faces . Their arms are longsighted than their bow legs , and their hands much like human hands . Because orangutans spend most of their time in trees , their long arms , finger and toes are quite useful as they swing from branch to branch . An orangutan ’s arm - span is foresightful that its height . A male person ’s weapon system - span can attain 7 infantry ( 2 meters ) from fingertip to fingertip , according toNational Geographic .

There are two metal money of orangutan . Bornean orangutans are more heavy - set than Sumatran orangutans , according to the San Diego Zoo . They also have larger cheek pads , called flange , which form inflexible half - circles on the sides of their faces . In both specie , there are flanged males , which are double the size of females , and unflanged males , which are around the same size as distaff orangutan . An unflanged male person can become a flanged male person , but scientists are uncertain as to why or how . Both unflanged and flanged males can produce young .

On average , orangutan females are around 45 column inch ( 114 centimeters ) marvelous , while male are around 54 inch ( 136 cm ) improbable . Females matter an average of 81.5 lbs . ( 37 kilograms ) and males average around 191 lbs . ( 87 kg ) .

Male orangutans emit long calls in the direction they plan to roam the next day, allowing other members of the community to plan accordingly.

Male orangutans emit long calls in the direction they plan to roam the next day, allowing other members of the community to plan accordingly.

Habitat

The name orangutan think " man of the forest " in the Malay language . Pongo pygmaeus live in the rainwater forests of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo . They drop 90 pct of their time in the dense trees there , concord to National Geographic . They even sleep in the tree diagram , in nests of leafy branches , and they use large leaves as umbrellas .

Habits

Unlike other apes who have very solid social bonds , orangutans are consider semi - societal . While they do hang out with other orangutan , they wish to hold up alone for the most part .

Orangutans are very smart and have a unequalled glide slope to problem solving , according to the San Diego Zoo . For example , " if a chimpanzee is given an queerly shape leg and several different holes to sample to put it in , the chimp straightaway tries shoving the peg in various kettle of fish until it finds the right hole . But an orangutan go up the challenge quite other than . It may stare off into outer space or even scrape itself with the pin . Then , after a while , it offhandedly hold fast the pin into the right hole while look at something else that has catch its interest ! "

Flanged males are very strong-growing toward other males . They also have a pharynx sac that is used to make “ long calls . ” These calls can be get wind 1.2 mi ( 2 kilometer ) away , according to National Geographic . These foresightful calls are useful for reaching females since orangutans are territorial . Females have territories that are around 3.5 square miles ( 9 square km ) and male have territories that are around 15 square miles ( 39 square kilometre ) , according to theSan Diego Zoo .

Bornean orangutan.

Bornean orangutan.

Diet

Orangutans are omnivore , which means they eat flora and meat . marrow usually does n’t come up on the fare , though . These apes are have sex to eat more than 500 dissimilar works specie , with fruits make up more than 60 percent of their modal total solid food inspiration , according to theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN ) . They also eat flush , barque , insects and leaves .

Offspring

distaff orangutans have some very unusual reproduction habits . They only give birth once every eight years , which is the longest time flow in - between birth of any animal , according to National Geographic . They are also fertile for more than 30 old age .

Once pregnant , the female has a gestation menstruum of eight to 10 months . She typically only gives birth to one infant at a time . The offspring , called baby or infants , just like humans , typically consider 3.3 to 4.5 lbs . ( 1.5 to 2 kilo ) .

The baby will cling to its mother ’s belly pelt as she climb through the trees until it is a little sometime , then will depend upon on her back . Mothers and their tyke have a very close bond . They cohere together for the sister ’s first six or seven old age of life . [ Photos : endearing Orangutan Shows Off Knot - Tying acquisition ]

An orangutan swings toward a tree in Sumatra, Indonesia.

An orangutan swings toward a tree in Sumatra, Indonesia.

male typically depart and last alone for the eternal sleep of their spirit while females have their own offspring to live with and deal for . At 12 , most females are mature enough to have their own tike . Males do n’t maturate until age 15 . orangutan can live 30 to 40 years in the wild and up to 70 yr in captivity .

Classification/taxonomy

This is the taxonomy of orangutans , according to Integrated Taxonomic Information System(ITIS ) .

realm : AnimaliaSubkingdom : BilateriaInfrakingdom : DeuterostomiaPhylum : ChordataSubphylum : VertebrataInfraphylum : GnathostomataSuperclass : TetrapodaClass : MammaliaSubclass : TheriaInfraclass : EutheriaOrder : PrimatesSuborder : HaplorrhiniInfraorder : SimiiformesSuperfamily : HominoideaFamily : HominidaeSubfamily : PonginaeGenus : PongoSpecies : Pongo abelii(Sumatran orangutan),Pongo pygmaeus(Bornean orangutan )

Conservation status

According to the IUCN , Bornean orangutans are endangered , and Sumatran orangutans are critically peril . TheSumatran orangutanhas had an estimated decline in universe of over 80 percentage over the last 75 years , while theBornean orangutanhas had a universe decline of well over 50 percent during the last 60 year . Their decline is due to loss of home ground from fires anddeforestation . They are also hunted by poachers .

The World Wildlife Federation guess there are 45,000 to 69,000 Bornean orang left in the wilderness , and only about 7,500 Sumatran orangutans . Orangutans are protected by law in Malaysia and Indonesia . They are also protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ( CITES ) and the U.S. Endangered Species Act .

Other facts

Orangutans are the magnanimous fruit - run through animals on Earth . They have more than 300 types of fruit useable to them .

These apes will use sprig to scoop termites out of hole in trees for a snack .

Orangutans have been known to find out human utilize boats to cross river and then copy their movements to untie the boat and ride it across on their own , fit in to the San Diego Zoo .

a close-up of a chimpanzee�s face

Additional resources

side-by-side images of a baboon and a gorilla

two black bears lounge in a tree

A humpback whale breaches out of the water

a panda munching on bamboo

a capuchin monkey with a newborn howler monkey clinging to its back

A large macaque opens its mouth wide to bare its fangs.

A rhesus monkey that was cloned using somatic cell nuclear transfer.

A chimpanzee climbing a tree

a rhesus macaque appearing to smile while sitting in a forest

Panoramic view of moon in clear sky. Alberto Agnoletto & EyeEm.

an aerial image of the Great Wall of China on a foggy day

person using binoculars to look at the stars

a child in a yellow rain jacket holds up a jar with a plant

a close-up of an electric vehicle�s charging port

Mosaic of Saturn taken by NASA�s Cassini spacecraft on November 20, 2017. Source -NASA & JPL-Caltech & Space Science Institute

an abstract image of intersecting lasers