Orangutan
(Pongo pgymaues)
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Height:
Weight:
Gestation:
Litter Size:
Life Span:
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3.5-4.5 ft.
90-200 lb.
9 months
1 young
35 years
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Status:
This species is listed as endangered. These animals are loosing their homes due to clear-cutting in the rainforest.
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Report by Jesse
Picture of an Orangutan
Picture from ZooNet
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Physical Characteristics
Orangutans have a black, hairless face. Their coat can be orange, maroon, and brown. Orangutans can get up to nearly 5 feet in height and can weigh 200 lb. Males are slightly larger than females. Orangutans have long arms with hooked-shaped hands and feet to help them swing from branch to branch on trees.
Daily life, habitat and feeding
Orangutans are very social, but large males travel alone along the ground. Males are very territorial. Young are very playful and social. Orangutans are very intelligent and have a very good memory. They are herbivores and eat mostly fruit, soil, eggs, small vertebrae, insects, shoots and leaves.
Reproduction and Young
After a period of 9 months a single young is born. Young are able to cling after a few years and able to ride on the mothers back between 5-7 months. They usually continue riding on the mother's back for a few years. Young are weaned around the age of 3 but are not mature until around 10-11 years. Orangutans usually live for about 35 years.
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