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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about orangutans. For more facts on other animals, be sure to subscribe. Gregory Murphy suggested these awesome apes. Orangutans are also called red apes, and I’m sure you can guess why! As of November 2017, there are three recognized species of orangutans, and they’re all found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. It’s believed that orangutans once had a larger distribution, perhaps even reaching as far as China, but these days their numbers are falling. Habitat destruction is the major contributing factor to declines in orangutan populations. As is stands, all orangutan species are considered endangered.

Orangutans spend most of their time in trees. In fact, they’re the largest arboreal mammals living on earth today. Some males get so big they can’t reach the highest areas of the trees because their weight will snap branches. They will even purposely make trees fall over towards an enemy if they feel threatened! Females are typically smaller than males once full grown, but females almost always have a baby nearby. Orangutan babies stay with their mothers an average of eight years, though females may stick around for even longer. Male orangutans are solitary, and females generally keep separate from other females aside from their own daughters, however, during times of high fruit yields, orangutans may form small social groups. When this happens, it’s been observed that the apes seem to be familiar with one another and often do not show aggression. These times of plentiful fruit are also the most likely times female orangutans become pregnant.

Dominant male orangutans, who are distinguished by their large cheeks and chins, sound loud calls named “long calls” to indicate their presence to other orangutans in the area. Females who are ready to mate will seek out the male, and they’ll spend a few days to weeks together before parting ways. It takes about seven to eight months for the female to give birth, and she’ll spend the next eight or more years teaching her baby everything she knows. It’s thought that orangutans spend so much time with their mothers because they have many skills to learn as well as which foods are good and which foods could be poisonous. Orangutans eat hundreds of different kinds of fruit along with termites, leaves, flowers, and sometimes even bird’s eggs, so there’s a lot to learn.

Orangutans forage throughout the day and sleep at night. Each night they’ll construct a nest out of leaves and branches. They’ve also developed methods for gathering water with chewed up leaf bundles that act as a sponge, and they will cover their heads with bundles of leave to act as an umbrella when it’s raining. They’re like red totoros!

The word orangutan literally means “person of the forest” which is apt because orangutans live in forests. Rainforests, swamps forests, and even mountain forests are all places these red apes call home. Most adults move gracefully through the treetops, carefully choosing branches as they search for fruit. Young orangutans, however, may more adventurously traverse the trees by swinging from branch to branch using only their arms. They prefer to move through trees because they’re a bit awkward walking on land. We might think it looks silly for an orangutan to walk, but imagine how silly we must look to orangutans if we were to try moving through the trees as they do!

For more facts on orangutans, check out the links in the description! What do you think of these great apes? Give a thumbs up for orangutans, and we’ll see you next time on Animal Fact Files!