Going, Going… - Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered with only about 9,200 left in the wild. The primary reason orangutans are endangered is habitat loss due to logging, forest fires and timber clearing for agriculture (including palm oil plantations) and human settlements. Although international efforts are underway to try to protect the remaining orangutans, if current trends continue, orangutans may be extinct in the wild within a decade.
Solitary Primates - Unlike the other great apes, orangutans are solitary except for females with offspring. Fruit is their favorite food. Since this food source tends to ripen seasonally it is therefore irregular and widely distributed. Foraging for fruit is highly competitive and each area can support only a limited number of orangutans. A solitary lifestyle spaces orangutans throughout the forest enabling them to find enough food.
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