Scientific Name: Pongo Pygmaeus
Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: 30 to 40 years
Size: Standing height, 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5m)
Weight: 73 to 180 lbs (33 to 82 kg)
Top Speed: 6km/h (2.7mph)
Group name: Troop
Protection status: Endangered
What does a Orangutan look like?
The feet of an orangutan have the ability to grasp branches, making movement through the treetops effortless. Almost all its food can be found among the branches and rain-filled leaves supply water. Both male and female orangutans are reddish-brown, a unique color in the great ape world. Males can weigh over 200 pounds and are much larger than females. Males also grow distinct cheek pads, which grow larger as the animal ages. A reddish beard sprouts from the chin and long hair hangs from its arms like a cape. A throat sac is used to make its "long call," a warning to intruders and an advertisement to females. Orangutans have an enormous arm span. A male may stretch his arms some 7 feet (2 meters) from fingertip to fingertip—a reach considerably longer than his standing height of about 5 feet (1.5 meters). When orangutans do stand, their hands nearly touch the ground.
Orangutan video.
Where do Orangutans live?
The orangutan is a large primate found naturally in the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra.. The orangutan (which means "person of the forest" in Malay) spends most of its life in the forest canopy. Only males will occasionally descend to the ground. Its limbs are long and flexible. Of the four great apes; gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans, only the orangutan makes its home in Asia; the others come from Africa. Orangutans' arms are well suited to their lifestyle because they spend much of their time (some 90 percent) in the trees of their tropical rain forest home. They even sleep aloft in nests of leafy branches. They use large leaves as umbrellas and shelters to protect themselves from the common rains.
What does a Orangutan eat?
The orangutan is an omnivore although they have an almost exclusively vegetarian diet. The orangutan eats fruit and berries and a wide variety of plants that grow in the tropics but mainly those that grow in the high forest tree tops making the orangutan a master of tree climbing. They also eat bark, insects and, on rare occasions, meat.
How do Orangutans live?
Orangutans are more solitary than other apes. Males are loners. As they move through the forest they make plenty of rumbling, howling calls to ensure that they stay out of each other's way. The "long call" can be heard 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) away.
How many orangutans are left in the world?
The orangutan is now an endangered species. There are an estimated 70,000 orangutan left in the wild and it is suspected that if nothing is done to prevent the rapidly diminishing population of the orangutan, then the orangutan will be extinct within the next 10 years.
Are orangutans smart?
The orangutan are well known for their intelligence, long arms and orange hair. The orangutan is one of the more intelligent primates along with the gorilla, chimpanzee and the human.
Did you know these facts about orangutan feet?
The hands and feet of the orangutan are very similar to those of a human as they each have four longer digits (fingers and toes) and one opposable digit (thumb and big toe).
The orangutan uses its complex hands and feet to grasp and hold things such as food and tree branches.
The orangutan mainly uses its long arms and hands to climb trees with the feet of the orangutan acting to help support the body weight and balance of the orangutan.
Instead of mainly using its legs and feet to get around, the orangutan primarily moves about using its hands and arms backed up by the incredibly strong shoulder muscles of the orangutan.
The orangutan has finger and toe nails rather than claws which the orangutan mainly uses for opening fruit and scratching and cleaning itself.
Did you know this about Orangutans?
Baby orangutans cry when they're hungry, whimper when they're hurt and smile at their mothers. They express emotions just like we do: joy, fear, anger, surprise and more.
Of all the great apes, the orangutan is uniquely arboreal, spending most of its life in trees and only descending to the forest floor when it must.
Orangutans once lived throughout Asia, ranging as far north as China. Today, there are only about 40,000 left on the island of Borneo and 6,500 on the island of Sumatra.
Scienitsts recognize two orangutan species: the Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan. The continued spread of palm oil plantations could drive them both to extinction within our lifetime.
The orangutan often uses its mouth to as a place to store food so that the orangutan has free hands and feet for climbing and swinging in the trees.
The orangutan has a powerful jaw that is capable of crushing on chewing its food, which includes spiky fruits, nuts and tree bark.
The orangutan uses its lips to detect the texture of the food before eating it, and also for making facial expressions when communicating with another orangutan.
Inside the mouth of the orangutan there are 32 teeth, which is the same number of teeth that a human has.
The orangutan has teeth very much like the teeth of a human as the teeth of the orangutan are also coated in a thick layer of enamel in order to protect them and make them stronger.
Orangutan images
Orangutan Wallpapers
Download free Orangutan wallpapers, click on the image to open the large version.
Orangutan wallpaper 1
Orangutan wallpaper 2
Orangutan wallpaper 3
Orangutan wallpaper 4
Orangutan wallpaper 5
Orangutan Coloring pages
Print free Orangutan coloring pages, click on the image to open the large version.
