Conservation
Orangutan Range
Orangutans are the only great apes occurring outside Africa, and live in dramatically declining forest habitats on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
Orangutans are the only great apes occurring outside Africa, and live in dramatically declining forest habitats on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
Status
The Bornean orangutan occurs in forests in two of the three nations sharing the island: Indonesia (Kalimantan) and Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak). The Sumatran orangutan occurs only in the provinces of Aceh and Sumatera Utara in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Tapanuli orangutan are only found in the Batang Toru Ecosystem, in the three Tapanuli Districts of North Sumatrai.
Estimates of the numbers left in the wild vary. Most recent estimates indicate that fewer than 14,500 (Serge Wich) Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild today. In Borneo, given the greater understanding of the extent of the orangutan's range, the original 2004 estimate of ca. 54,000 individuals was revised in 2016 to 104,700 individuals (https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/17975/0). However, this estimate does not accommodate population declines during the period 2004-2016. A revised population estimate is anticipated in 2017, and is expected to incorporate a projected Bornean orangutan population decline of more than 55% by 2025 (Wich, 2017, pers. comm.). Based on this information, the Orangutan SSP estimates that the populations of Bornean orangutans in the wild number at least 78,500 (Voigt et al, 2018 and Santika et al, 2017)
There is debate as to the rate of population decline, with estimates suggesting a loss of between 3,000 and 5,000 individuals every year. While the rate of decline may be debated, the trend may not: the survival of the orangutan is becoming more precarious with every passing year, with extinction in the wild likely to occur within 10-20 years in the absence of effective protection of habitat.
The Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli species are now ALL classed as Critically Endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service lists both Bornean and Sumatran species as Endangered on its Endangered Species List.
The newly discovered critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan has now appeared on the IUCN's list of the 25 Most Endangered Primate species in its 2018-2020 update.
Except for the 2010 and 2012 editions, the Sumatran orangutan species had been included in every "Top 25" listing since the list's inception in 2000 until this most recent edition. “The purpose of our Top 25 list is to highlight those primates most at risk, to attract the attention of the public, to stimulate national governments to do more, and especially to find the resources to implement desperately needed conservation measures,” says Dr Russell Mittermeier, Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Executive Vice Chair of Conservation International.
The Bornean orangutan occurs in forests in two of the three nations sharing the island: Indonesia (Kalimantan) and Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak). The Sumatran orangutan occurs only in the provinces of Aceh and Sumatera Utara in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Tapanuli orangutan are only found in the Batang Toru Ecosystem, in the three Tapanuli Districts of North Sumatrai.
Estimates of the numbers left in the wild vary. Most recent estimates indicate that fewer than 14,500 (Serge Wich) Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild today. In Borneo, given the greater understanding of the extent of the orangutan's range, the original 2004 estimate of ca. 54,000 individuals was revised in 2016 to 104,700 individuals (https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/17975/0). However, this estimate does not accommodate population declines during the period 2004-2016. A revised population estimate is anticipated in 2017, and is expected to incorporate a projected Bornean orangutan population decline of more than 55% by 2025 (Wich, 2017, pers. comm.). Based on this information, the Orangutan SSP estimates that the populations of Bornean orangutans in the wild number at least 78,500 (Voigt et al, 2018 and Santika et al, 2017)
There is debate as to the rate of population decline, with estimates suggesting a loss of between 3,000 and 5,000 individuals every year. While the rate of decline may be debated, the trend may not: the survival of the orangutan is becoming more precarious with every passing year, with extinction in the wild likely to occur within 10-20 years in the absence of effective protection of habitat.
The Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli species are now ALL classed as Critically Endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service lists both Bornean and Sumatran species as Endangered on its Endangered Species List.
The newly discovered critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan has now appeared on the IUCN's list of the 25 Most Endangered Primate species in its 2018-2020 update.
Except for the 2010 and 2012 editions, the Sumatran orangutan species had been included in every "Top 25" listing since the list's inception in 2000 until this most recent edition. “The purpose of our Top 25 list is to highlight those primates most at risk, to attract the attention of the public, to stimulate national governments to do more, and especially to find the resources to implement desperately needed conservation measures,” says Dr Russell Mittermeier, Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Executive Vice Chair of Conservation International.
Threats
The species’ survival is severely endangered by logging, forest fires including those associated with the rapid spread of oil palm plantations, illegal hunting and trade. In the last few years, timber companies have increasingly entered the last strongholds of orangutans in Indonesia: the national parks. Official Indonesian data reveal that illegal logging has recently taken place in 37 of 41 surveyed national parks in Indonesia, some also seriously affected by mining and oil palm plantation development. Satellite imagery from 2006 documents beyond any doubt that protected areas important for orangutans are being deforested. The use of bribery or armed force by logging companies is commonly reported, and park rangers have insufficient numbers, arms, equipment and training to cope.
If current logging trends continue, most of Indonesia’s national parks are likely to be severely damaged within the next decade, because they are among the last areas to hold valuable timber in commercially viable amounts. The rapid rate of removal of food trees, killing of orangutans displaced by logging and plantation development, and fragmentation of remaining intact forest constitutes a conservation emergency. More than 1,000 orangutans are living in rescue centers in Borneo alone, with uncertain chances of ever returning to the wild.
Orangutans are unable to survive long-term in degraded and fragmented forests. Their fruit-dominated diet requires them to occupy large ranges to ensure sufficient supplies, and some individuals commute between feedings sources. Devastated forests offer few fruit resources and orangutans are forced out to roam in search of food. Large numbers were massacred while fleeing the flames and smoke during and after the extensive forest fires of 1997 and 1998. Similarly, orangutans do not cope well with selective logging. Selectively logged forest and old secondary growth contain only 30%-50% of the orangutan density found in primary forest.
To add pressure to the situation, orangutans have a comparatively slow reproduction rate. A female orangutan will not reach sexual maturity until she is about fourteen to sixteen years of age and will only bear an offspring once every eight to ten years.
The single greatest threat facing orangutans today is the rapidly expanding palm oil trade.
While there are millions of hectares of degraded land that could be used for plantations, many oil palm companies choose to instead use rainforest land to gain additional profits by logging the timber first. Palm oil companies also frequently use uncontrolled burning to clear the land, resulting in thousands of orangutans being burned to death. Those that survive have nowhere to live and nothing left to eat. Learn more about palm oil and its impact on orangutans here.
The species’ survival is severely endangered by logging, forest fires including those associated with the rapid spread of oil palm plantations, illegal hunting and trade. In the last few years, timber companies have increasingly entered the last strongholds of orangutans in Indonesia: the national parks. Official Indonesian data reveal that illegal logging has recently taken place in 37 of 41 surveyed national parks in Indonesia, some also seriously affected by mining and oil palm plantation development. Satellite imagery from 2006 documents beyond any doubt that protected areas important for orangutans are being deforested. The use of bribery or armed force by logging companies is commonly reported, and park rangers have insufficient numbers, arms, equipment and training to cope.
If current logging trends continue, most of Indonesia’s national parks are likely to be severely damaged within the next decade, because they are among the last areas to hold valuable timber in commercially viable amounts. The rapid rate of removal of food trees, killing of orangutans displaced by logging and plantation development, and fragmentation of remaining intact forest constitutes a conservation emergency. More than 1,000 orangutans are living in rescue centers in Borneo alone, with uncertain chances of ever returning to the wild.
Orangutans are unable to survive long-term in degraded and fragmented forests. Their fruit-dominated diet requires them to occupy large ranges to ensure sufficient supplies, and some individuals commute between feedings sources. Devastated forests offer few fruit resources and orangutans are forced out to roam in search of food. Large numbers were massacred while fleeing the flames and smoke during and after the extensive forest fires of 1997 and 1998. Similarly, orangutans do not cope well with selective logging. Selectively logged forest and old secondary growth contain only 30%-50% of the orangutan density found in primary forest.
To add pressure to the situation, orangutans have a comparatively slow reproduction rate. A female orangutan will not reach sexual maturity until she is about fourteen to sixteen years of age and will only bear an offspring once every eight to ten years.
The single greatest threat facing orangutans today is the rapidly expanding palm oil trade.
While there are millions of hectares of degraded land that could be used for plantations, many oil palm companies choose to instead use rainforest land to gain additional profits by logging the timber first. Palm oil companies also frequently use uncontrolled burning to clear the land, resulting in thousands of orangutans being burned to death. Those that survive have nowhere to live and nothing left to eat. Learn more about palm oil and its impact on orangutans here.
The Orangutan SAFE program moves beyond the goals of the AZA Orangutan Species Survival Plan (SSP), of which the aim is to manage our captive populations by focusing specifically on the conservation of the wild orangutan population. The Orangutan SAFE program aims to protect and restore the wild orangutan population and their habitats through public engagement, funding, and field work.
The Association of Zoos and Aquarium's (AZA) Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) focuses on the collective expertise within AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums and leverages their massive audience to save species. SAFE is a framework that focuses on protecting threatened species by developing recovery plans, collaborating with AZA and conservation stakeholders, and implementing strategic conservation and engagement initiatives.
The Association of Zoos and Aquarium's (AZA) Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) focuses on the collective expertise within AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums and leverages their massive audience to save species. SAFE is a framework that focuses on protecting threatened species by developing recovery plans, collaborating with AZA and conservation stakeholders, and implementing strategic conservation and engagement initiatives.
Additional Sources
- IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group's Section on Great Apes A.P.E.S. Portal
- IUCN SSC Primate Specialists Group's Indonesian Orangutan National Action Plan 2007-2017
- UNEP's 2011 report Orangutans and the Economics of Sustainable Forest Management in Sumatra
- UNEP's 2007 report Last Stand of the Orangutan
- CBSG's 2004 Orangutan Population and Habitat Viability Analysis
- UNEP's Great Apes Survival Project 2002 report Great Apes: The Road Ahead
- UNEP's Orangutan Fact Sheet