Orangutans

Four police officers in Chennai were recently suspended for helping orangutan smugglers.

About orangutans:

• With arms far longer than their legs, orangutans—the largest arboreal mammals—are exceptionally well suited to living in the trees. They have long, curled fingers and toes on their feet, as well as grasping hands. They lack an external tail that may be seen and have recognisable fingerprints.
• From southern China to the Indonesian island of Java, orangutans once roamed the jungles of south-east Asia. Only two islands remain where they can be found today: Borneo and Sumatra.
• In just the last 60 years, the population of orangutans has decreased by about half as their forests have vanished.

Native Habitat:

• Both the Malaysian and Indonesian portions of the island of Borneo are home to orangutans, as is the Indonesian island of Sumatra. These are primarily arboreal creatures that inhabit the forest's bottom to canopy at all levels.
• From peat swamp woods close to the shore to upland forests about a mile (1.6 kilometres) above the sea, there are many different habitats.
• Orangutans have migrated up the mountainside as humans have occupied their former home at lower elevations.

Difference between male and female orangutans:

• Both sexes have fatty neck sacs, which in adult men grow to be very enormous.
• Compared to adult females, adult males have deeper chests and much longer body hair.
• The huge cheek pads that males generally grow also show their genetic fitness and accentuate their extended calls.

Size:

• Wild adult males weigh between 170 and 220 pounds, (77 and 100 kilograms) whereas wild adult females range between 80 and 120 pounds (36 and 54 kilogrammes).
• Zoo animals typically weigh 50 to 100 pounds (23 to 45 kilogrammes) more because to the constant availability of high-quality food.

WHY ORANGUTANS MATTER SO MUCH:

• Since they assist in dispersing seeds, orangutans are referred to as the forest's gardeners. they consume fruit from the trees, which releases seeds that cause the forest to grow. In particular, the bigger seeds that are not dispersed by smaller animals.
• The Bornean and Sumatran rainforests would be very different without that seed dispersion, which would have an impact on all the creatures that inhabit or use those jungles.
• The orang-jungle utan's provides food, water, money, and environmental protection to the inhabitants of Borneo and Sumatra.

Threats:

• Populations and ranges have drastically declined as a result of human activity.
• Poaching (for bushmeat and retaliation for eating crops), habitat destruction and deforestation (for palm oil farming and logging), and the illegal pet trade are all threats to the wild orangutan population.

Population decline and IUCN status:

• In total, there were probably more than 230,000 orangutans a century ago, but based on updated geographic range estimates, the Bornean orangutan is now estimated to be about 104,700 and is classified as Endangered, while the Sumatran orangutan is about 7,500 and is classified as Critically Endangered.
• Tapanuli orangutan: In November 2017, it was revealed that a third species of orangutan existed. The Tapanuli orangutan is the most endangered of the great apes, with fewer than 800 individuals remaining.