Orangutan Facts
for Kids

Orangutans are Critically Endangered primarily due to deforestation for palm oil plantations, logging, and agriculture. Over 80% of their Bornean and Sumatran rainforest habitat has been destroyed in the past 20 years. Additional threats include illegal poaching, the pet trade (mothers are killed to capture infants), and forest fires set to clear land. The Bornean orangutan population has declined by over 50% since 1999.

Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates. They use and manufacture tools in the wild (sticks for extracting insects and honey, leaves as gloves and cups), plan for future needs by carrying tools to distant sites, recognize themselves in mirrors, and learn cultural behaviours from their mothers over an 8-year childhood. Captive orangutans have learned sign language and solved multi-step puzzles.

Orangutans are found only on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Three species exist: the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), and the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), discovered in 2017 and the rarest great ape on Earth with fewer than 800 individuals.

Orangutans are primarily frugivores — fruit makes up 60–90% of their diet when available. They also eat young leaves, bark, flowers, insects, and occasionally bird eggs. Their diet includes over 400 different food types. When fruit is scarce, they fall back on bark and tough vegetation, using their powerful jaws to crack hard-shelled fruits that other primates cannot access.

Palm oil production is the single largest driver of orangutan habitat destruction. Tropical rainforest is cleared and burned to plant oil palm plantations across Borneo and Sumatra. Palm oil is found in roughly 50% of supermarket products — from food and cosmetics to cleaning products. Consumers can help by choosing products with RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil.