Facts about the urangutan
See why they are so awesome!
1.There are 3 species of urangutan
The Bornean,
the Sumatran and the recently confirmed new
species, as of 2017, the Tapanuli. These
great apes are only found in the wild on the islands of Borneo and
Sumatra.
2.They've got long arms
Orangutans have an arm span of about 2.2m from fingertip to fingertip.
Considering their standing height is around 1.5m, this is an impressive
reach. Their arms are so long in fact that they’re one and a half times
longer than their legs and stretch to their ankles when standing.
3.They build nests to sleep in
Orangutans like to be comfortable. They make a sleeping platform, or
nest, every night. An orangutan makes its nest in around 10 minutes, by
pulling several large branches together, using smaller branches for a
mattress and binding the structure together by weaving in more supple
branches. In wet weather, they sometimes add a roof.
Urangutans need your help!
It's estimated that over 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost between
1999 and 2015. The main threat is the loss or fragmentation of their
forest habitat, caused by logging for timber materials, forest fires and
making way for oil palm plantations. Oil palm trees produce palm oil -
an edible vegetable oil - which is used in many products, from
toothpaste to pizza. Indonesia and Malaysia make up over 85% of the
global supply of palm oil. Cutting down pristine rainforest to make more
palm oil is incredibly unsustainable and releases lots of carbon into
the atmosphere. But the good news is that we can produce palm oil
sustainably - protecting species like the orangutan - if we ensure that
it is deforestation free. This means planting on already degraded land
rather than replacing jungle with oil palm. And palm oil itself yields
far more oil than other crops such as olive oil or sunflower oil – so it
needs far less land to produce the same amount of oil. As consumers, we
can fight to only buy sustainable palm oil. Boycotting isn’t the answer;
demanding more action is.
Learn more about this fantastic creatures!