Orangutans Research Paper

Of the five great apes, there is only one “lonely ape”. That ape I am speaking of is the orangutan. After discussing all five great ape species in class, orangutans were the most interesting and intriguing of the bunch, and for that I have chosen to conduct further research on them, and I will go over what I have learned about these animals, such as their environment, social structure, conservation status and efforts, past and present, population, etc. I’ll first start off with a little introduction to orangutans.
To start off, orangutans, which are classified in the Genus Pongo, were considered one species, but that was only until 1996. Since then, they have been defined as 2 different species, Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran (Pongo abelii), of which each tend to differ slightly in some characteristics, such as appearance and behavior. (WWF) For example, both are covered in long, shaggy reddish-brown hair, the Sumatran orangutans tend to have short hair on their faces. (WWF). The Sumatran also have been recorded as to having stronger social bonds than their Bornean counterparts (WWF).
When it comes to their

environment, it’s kind of sad. Orangutans currently reside on the Sumatra and Borneo islands of Indonesia (Ahrens, Justin R.). The reason it is sad is because these animals once had a very extensive habitat. Biologists report that the desired habitat for the species is an area the resides upon “waterways and in lowlands because of their high dependence on fruit” (Ahrens, Justin R.). The customary environment for orangutans is a tropical rainforest, due to the fact of the multitude of trees, but just like the orangutans themselves, this type of environment is very scarce. (Ahrens, Justin R.).
Orangutans are very solitary creatures, especially when compared to the other great apes, which has caused them to be deemed the “lonely ape” by biologists. The males are loners, living alone and only interact with females to mate. (National Geographic.) If there were to be offspring from the mating, the female would be the one to keep and raise the young (Morris, Craig E). Males will actually let out a medley of howling calls, which can be heard from around 1.2 miles away, when they are moving around so that will avoid encounters with others (National Geographic.).
Sadly, orangutans carry the conservation status of “critically endangered”, which means they face a very high risk of becoming extinct in the distant future. (WWF). There is only an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 left in the wild, with another 900 that live in captivity. (Morris, Craig E.). These animals are held captive to travel and perform in circuses, where they will travel thousands of miles with no water or air conditioning, or be displayed at zoos, where they’re held as “collections”. (Morris, Craig E). Zoos teach that it is acceptable to hold animals captive, and they claim to educate, but they do not. Zoos actually cause the animals to get “Zoochosis”, which is described as when “lack of privacy, lack of mental stimulation, and lack of exercise result in a self-destructive behavior”. (Morris, Craig E).
Other than captivity, orangutans face a numerous amount of other threats. The most serious threat faced by orangutans is the destruction of their forest habitat, in the form of excessive logging, which could lead to the species being extinct in the next 50 years. (Morris, Craig E). Another form of habitat loss is through uncontrollable fires in the forest they’re living in. (WWF.) Besides habitat loss, orangutans also face being traded illegally as pets. When infants, poachers will search for the young orangutans, capture them, and kill their mothers in the process. If there are killed, and they’re sometimes hunted, they will be sold as food (WWF).
There have been many conservation efforts done to avoid this species becoming extinct and losing them permanently. In the past, organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and National Geographic have done a tremendous amount of work to conserve this species. One specific effort was in 2007, when the WWF assisted in a declaration that states the governments of three countries share the land in Borneo, which are Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, to share a mutual agreement for the conservation of the 22 million hectares of forest in the “Heart of Borneo”, where there is a large area of sustainable areas where hunting and logging is prohibited, which conserved a massive, populated area for the orangutans. (WWF).
As far as current conservation efforts, there is a multitude of companies and organizations working hard to keep this species from becoming extinct. One organization that is working hard right now to conserve orangutans is “San Diego Zoo Global Animals and Plants”. (San Diego Zoo Global). According to the organization, the majority of the orangutans habitat has been destroyed in order to develop palm oil plantations. (San Diego Zoo Global). To prevent this, San Diego Zoo Global became a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO, which was established to promote sustainable palm oil industries to limit the eradication of rain forest habitats. (San Diego Zoo Global). The organization asks that palm oil consumers purchase products that are RSPO-designated, so that the consumer is getting certified oil that wasn’t produced illegally. The organization is also working to create an awareness of all the dangers these and all the great apes are facing. They are currently providing financial funds and indorse an array of conservation projects through the assistance of the “Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s Ape Taxon Advisory Group’s Conservation Initiative”. (San Diego Zoo Global).
Another organization that is making immense amounts of efforts in saving the orangutans is the World Wildlife Fund.

They have been and continue to help conserve the orangutans, whether it be by decreasing habitat loss, eliminate poaching, etc., they are doing all they can to keep them around. (WWF). One current project that I found interesting was their “Thirty Hills” project. This is a conservation project, which started in August 2015, that is going to be a 60-year challenge to save a very large area, approximately 100,000 acres, of rain forest habitats in a “deforestation hotspot” in Sumatra. (WWF). The area is called “Thirty Hills”, which is where the project got its name, and it is one of the last places on the Earth where elephants, tigers and orangutans coexist together, which is a beautiful thing, and doesn’t deserve to be destroyed.

(WWF).
As far as the future for the orangutans, there is some optimism, but chances are that, sadly, the orangutans will become extinct in our life time, and its estimated it could happen in the next 50 years. (Morris, Craig E). Like I stated earlier, there is only an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 orangutans left in the wild, along with 900 that live in captivity, like zoos, circuses, etc., which is not a large population by any means. (Morris, Craig E). They are also running out of environment, for reasons I touched upon already, such as deforestation, fires, etc.

In conclusion, orangutans are a great species, and it would be an absolute shame to see them become extinct in the next few decades. I believe that if everyone starts and/or continues efforts and projects to conserve not only this species, but all the great apes, we could keep them around a lot longer than expected. Everyone underestimates the effects that the way we treat the planet has on animals like orangutans. If people get out and support organizations who support conserving orangutans, the change would be evident, and it isn’t hard to donate or help out. So, in closing, go out and support a good organization and save the orangutans.