Sumatran Orangutan
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| Sumatran Orangutan | ||||||||||||||||
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| Pongo abelii Lesson, 1827 |
The Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is the rarer of the two species of orangutans. Living and endemic to Sumatra island of Indonesia, they are smaller than the Bornean Orangutan. The Sumatran Orangutan grows to about 4.6 feet tall and 200 pounds in males. Females are smaller, averaging 3ft and 100 pounds.
Compared to the Bornean Orangutan, the Sumatran Orangutans possess a lighter and longer pelage, a longer face, a smaller stature, and flanges that are covered in small white hairs.[citation needed]
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[edit] Ecology
Compared to the Bornean Orangutan, the Sumatran Orangutan tends to be more frugivorous and especially insectivorous.[2] Preferred fruits include figs and jackfruits. It also will eat bird eggs and small vertebrates[citation needed]. The Sumatran Orangutans spend far less time feeding on the inner bank tree.The Sumatran Orangutan is also more arboreal than its Bornean cousin. This could be because of the presence of large predators like the Sumatran Tiger. It moves through the trees by brachiation.
[edit] Lifecyle
The female Sumatran Orangutan is more social than its Bornean counterpart. Adult males, however, genrally avoid contact with other adult males. Rape is common among orangutans. Sub-adult males will try to mate with any female, though they probably mostly fail to impregnate them since mature females are easily capable of fending them off. Mature females prefer to mate with mature males.
Interval birth rates for Sumatran Orangutan were longer than the Bornean ones; the longest reported interval birth rates among the great apes. Sumatran orangutans give birth when they are about 15 years old. Infant orangutans will stay close to their mother for up the three years. Even after that, the young will still associate with their mother.
Both orangutan species are likely to live several decades; the longevity estimate can span for more than 50 years, with the oldest captive orangutan, Ah Meng, being born in 1960.[3] Nonja, thought to be the world's oldest in captivity or the wild at the time of its death, died at the Miami MetroZoo at the age of 55.[4]
The average of the first reproduction of P. abelii is around 12.3 years old with no indication of menopause.[2]
[edit] Status
In 2002, the World Conservation Union put the species into the IUCN Red List with critically endangered status. A survey in the Lake Toba forests, the area of which indicated their habitats, found only two areas, Bukit Lawang (has been defined as the animal sanctuary) and Gunung Leuser National Park.[5] The survey estimated only circa 3,500 orangutans still live on Sumatra in 2002. Baby Orangutans are often captured and sold as highly prized pets. In order to catch the babies poachers normally have to kill the mother first to prevent her from protecting her baby.
[edit] Media publications
NHNZ filmed the Sumatran Orangutan for its show Wild Asia:In the Realm of the Red Ape, it showed one of them using a simple tool, a twig, to pry food from difficult places. There is also a sequence of an animal using a large leaf as an umbrella in a tropical rainstorm. Such tool-using behaviour (see animal cognition) is well documented in other animals, but this film remains unique.
[edit] See also
| Indonesia Portal |
[edit] References
- ^ Singleton, I., Wich, S.A. & Griffiths, M. (2007). Pongo abelii. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered
- ^ a b S. A. Wich; S. S. Utami-Atmoko; T. M. Setia; H. D. Rijksen; C. Schürmann, J.A.R.A.M. van Hooff and C. P. van Schaik (2004). "Life history of wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)". Journal of Human Evolution 47 (6): 385–398.
- ^ "Singapore’s most famous ape celebrates 46th birthday", Khaleej Times, 18 June 2006.
- ^ "'World's oldest' orang-utan dies", BBC News, 31 December 2007.
- ^ S. A. Wich; I. Singleton; S. S. Utami-Atmoko; M. L. Geurts; H. D. Rijksen; and C. P. van Schaik (2003). "The status of the Sumatran orang-utan Pongo abelii: an update". Flora & Fauna International 37 (1).
[edit] External links
Apes | ||
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| Extant family | Hylobatidae · Hominidae | Image:Primatenskelett-drawing.jpg |
| Extant genera | Hylobates · Hoolock · Nomascus · Symphalangus · Pongo · Gorilla · Pan · Homo | |
| Extant species | Lar Gibbon · Agile Gibbon · Müller's Bornean Gibbon · Silvery Gibbon · Pileated Gibbon · Kloss's Gibbon · Western Hoolock Gibbon · Eastern Hoolock Gibbon · Siamang · Black Crested Gibbon · Eastern Black Crested Gibbon · White-cheeked Crested Gibbon · Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon · Bornean Orangutan · Sumatran Orangutan · Western Gorilla · Eastern Gorilla · Common Chimpanzee · Bonobo · Human | |
| Ape study | Aquatic ape hypothesis · Ape language · Ape Trust · Dian Fossey · Birutė Galdikas · Jane Goodall · Chimpanzee genome project · Human genome project | |
| Legal status | Personhood · Research ban · Declaration · Kinshasa Declaration · Great Ape Project · Survival Project | |
| See also... | Bushmeat · Ape extinction · List of notable apes · List of fictional apes · Human evolution · Mythic Humanoids · Hominid · Planet of the Apes | |
de:Sumatra-Orang-Utan es:Pongo abelii ko:수마트라오랑우탄 id:Orangutan Sumatra it:Pongo abelii lt:Sumatros orangutanas nl:Sumatraanse orang-oetan fi:Sumatranoranki
