An Orangutan's Life

Order: Primates
Family: Pongidae
Genus: Pongo
Species: pygmaeus

Orangutans, along with chimpanzees and gorillas, are man's closest living relative. Humans and the so-called great apes are all primates, descending from one shared ancestor.

Indah's brother Azy, 24, sits in the zoo's Think Tank computer room. Photo: Richard Nowitz

• Orangutans are the world's largest tree-dwelling animal, making their homes in the tropical rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Their long arms and curved hands and feet are well-adapted to life among the treetops. The older apes usually move through the trees on all fours, while the young often swing hand over hand.

• Males have longer hair than females and disc-like cheek pads. Both have throat pouches that make their calls resonate through the forest.

• There are two subspecies: Pongo pygmaeus of Borneo, and Pongo abelii of Sumatra.

• Orangutans are Asia's largest primates and only great apes.

• Males average twice the size of females, standing about 4 1/2 feet tall and weighing up to 200 pounds.

• Females on average grow to be 2 1/2 feet tall and weigh 90 to 110 pounds.

• In the wild, orangutans eat primarily forest fruit, supplemented by leaves and shoots, and occasionally small animals and tree bark. If they find an area with plentiful fruit, they'll eat for hours.

• Females reach maturity at around 10 years, and research suggests that females give birth once every eight years. Young orangutans can nurse for up to six years, and generally will stay with their mothers until the next offspring is born.

• Orangutans live about 35 years in the wild, and have lived as long as 60 years in zoos.

• Orangutans are solitary and spend little time socializing. They spend much of their lives high in trees, slowly moving through the forest in search of fruiting trees. At night, they bend tree branches to form a nest for sleeping.

• The orangish-red-haired apes were once more widely distributed in Asia, and are currently listed as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Animals.

• The biggest threat to their existence is loss of habitat from natural forest fires and farmers clearing land for crops.

Source: Smithsonian National Zoological Park