Orangutans or Pongo pygmaeus belong to the Primate order.
The orangutan spends most of its time in trees. Each evening it builds a new
treetop nest.
They are endangered because of
habitat lost and poachers keep on killing, owning, and exporting orangutans.They
only live on the island of Borneo and in the northern corner of the island of
Sumatra.
Orangutans are characterized by
rough, long, reddish-brown fur. Male orangutans are about 95 cm (37 in) in
length and about 77 kg (170 lb) in weight. Females are smaller, reaching about
78 cm (31 in) in height and weighing only about 37 kg (81 lb). The male has
puffy cheeks and a hanging throat-pouch. This pouch contains air sacks that
help produce a groaning, bubbling call, which can be heard at least 1 km (0.6
mi) away.
Half of the orangutan’s diet
consists of fruit, but they also eat young leaves, soft inner bark, termites, eggs,
and occasionally monkeys.
When a female is ready to mate, she
will seek out an adult male. Orangutan are mammals; females give birth to a
single infant about once every four to eight years. The gestational period for
orangutans is just under nine months, nearly the same as in human beings.
Infants stay very close to their mothers for the first three years until they
don’t consume their mother’s milk.
