Bornean Orangutans by Meg R
2nd of December 2015
Bornean Orangutans
The Pongo Pygmaeus’s otherwise known as the Bornean Orangutans or even the Red Ape or Forest People have adapted to their environment in Borneo very well.
Orang-utans body covering is long hair that is either red, orange, brown, grey or black. As a fully grown orang-utan they weigh 30kg – 90kg and about 1.25m – 1.5m in length.
The Bornean orang-utans habitat is in the temperate rainforests of Borneo. They often climb high in trees to get away from there predators such as tigers and clouded leopards and even humans believe it or not and we are the most threat for them. The Bornean orang-utans eats fruits, bark and some types of insects.
The Bornean orang-utans have usually one offspring and they give birth one at a time. Their young is called an infant. The infant stays with its mother for 3yrs because it is too young to go and hunt for its self yet so it will depend on its mum for milk and food.
These are a few examples of physical and behavioural adaptations: They use large leaves as umbrellas and they have learnt how to quickly climb through the tree branches to get away from predators at an outstanding speed of 60kph! They have got long arms to swing high and fast through trees and long hair to protect their skin from the harsh weather conditions including the sun.
The impact humans have on the orang-utans is that we destruct their habitat. The numbers of Bornean orang-utans are greatly decreasing because of humans chopping down trees and food supplies such as plants and shrubs that orang-utans depend on to live. What we are doing to help is that we are keeping them into reserves to breed. They have many reserves in Borneo, some are even in holiday resorts such as Shang Gri-La Rasa Ria Resort.
So, as you can clearly see the Bornean orang-utans are greatly endangered and need to be helped immediately. I think that they are beautiful and cute creatures that are very loyal and need to be helped. Se please help them as soon as you can!