Orangutans
By Sam A
Classification
Orangutan means man of the forest. The scientific name for orangutan is "pongo"
Appearance
Orangutans a are a browny orange colour. There are two different types of orangutan, the Samartan (pongo abellia) and the Bornean (pongo pygmaeus). You can tell them apart because the Smartan has a massive face (see to the side) . They are one of the closest relatives to humans. the male orangutan weighs up to 90kg while the female weighs up to 45kg. The orangutan has a max armspan of 2.13 meters. The female stands at just one meter tall!
orangutan pic
Behaviour/Lifecycle
Orangutans are very smart. If you give an orangutan that has seen men build things a hammer, a nail and a bit of wood it will hammer the nail in to the plank... sorta (watch to find out more). The male and female orangutans spend 3 to 10 days together just to breed but, it doesn't happen to often because the female can only have a baby every 8 years. The female orangutans spend approximately 25% of their lives with other orangutans but males spend less than 9% of their lives with others. After 8 years the baby leaves its mother (the father never even meets the baby unless it meets the baby years later in the forest.). the baby is normally born around 1.5kg.
Threats
The orangutan is one of the worlds most endangered species. This is due to the carelessness of humans and the massive business of deforestation. Oil palm plantations are taking over the forests where orangutans live, Oil palms are a tree that orangutans can not live in. forest fires also kill many orangutans a year. if you what to help an orangutan, click the link below.
Habitat/Diet
The orangutan lives in places in the jungles of Borneo. They love to live in a swap or forest but will live any where with trees fertile ground and a water source. The orangutans only two countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. The orangutan loves fruit and its favorite fruit, but when needed can survive for ages of just bark and leaves. The orangutan can have 2 nest at a time. a fresh nest is green and and an old one is brown.