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Class:
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Mammalia
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Order:
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Primates
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Family:
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Pongid
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Genus:
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Pongo
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Species:
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abelii (Sumatran orangutan) or pygmaeus (bornean orangutan)
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Life span:
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Up to 59 years under human care
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Gestation:
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About 8.5 months
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Number of young at birth:
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Usually 1, sometimes 2
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Age of maturity:
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Females: at about 12 years
Males: at about 15 years |
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Size:
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Females: average 45 in. tall
Males: average 54 in. tall |
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Weight:
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Females: average 81.5 lb
Males: average 191 lb |
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Size at birth:
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3.5 – 4.5 lb
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Fun Facts:
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Orangutans name means “people of the forest”
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Live in tropical and swam forests on the southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra
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Have shaggy red hair
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Orangutans are the largest arboreal mammal and only great ape found in Asia
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Orangutans are the most solitary of all the great apes, with the main social bond between a mother and her offspring
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Spend most of their lives in trees and travel by swinging from branch to branch with their long arms
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Usually build a new nest every night but may occasionally reuse one.
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Use leafy branches to shelter themselves from rain and sun, sometimes even draping large leaves over themselves like a poncho.
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Primarily eat fruit, but also leaves, flowers, bark, termites, ants and other insects.
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Orangutan youngsters stay with their mothers until about age 8
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Orangutan arms stretch over seven feet from fingertip to fingertip
