Orangutans are some of the most recognizable and intelligent primates in the world.
They have very distinct orange looking hair and like to spend much of their hidden in the trees.
How much does an arangutan weigh?
Males are much heavier than females and weigh around 191 pounds 987 kg) on average. Some have been known to reach weights up to 300 pounds!
Females weigh 81.5 pounds (37 kg) on average.
There 2 known species of Orangutan, the Sumatran which resides on the Asian Island of Sumatra and the Borneo which resides on the Asian Island of Borneo.
Both of which lie within the Indonesia island archipelago.
Orang means “Person” in Malay while Utan means “Forest”. An Orangutan is a human of the forest.
There are over 50,000 orangutans living in the wild today.
You will notice that males have very obvious large cheeks and large flappy throats that they use for calling.
Unlike chimpanzees, orangutans are semi-social and once males reach maturity they tend to spend most of their time alone.
Females without offspring will also spend most of their time alone.
Orangutans are extremely adept at using tools. They are known to develop and use a number of tools throughout the jungle, mainly for opening fruits and extracting food from trees.
The biggest threat facing orangutans is illegal logging which drives them from their natural habitat.
~ Fun Fact ~
An orangutan was once taught sign language. However, it is unclear if it was actual intelligence or just mimicking human behavior.
Resources
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/animals/general-animals/ten-facts-about-orang-utans/
https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-orangutans-4124463
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/ahrens_just/interesting%20facts.htm
https://orangutan.org/orangutan-facts/quick-orangutan-facts-figures/