orangutan: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Nov. 1, 2026

News •

Orangutan rescuers work overtime as wildfires and a super El Niño raze Indonesia’s forests • Oct. 30, 2026, 8:00 AM ET (Globe and Mail)

Orangutans prefer food associated with sounds of laughter, study suggests • Oct. 21, 2026, 5:00 PM ET (The Guardian)

Facts

Also Known As	orang-utan • Pongo • person of the forest

Photos and Videos

An illustration of a female Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) with long reddish-brown fur, hanging from tree branches with one arm extended upward and one leg hooked over a branch. A scale bar at the bottom shows lengths of 30 centimeters and 12 inches for size reference.

An adult orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) with long reddish-brown hair and prominent cheek pads sits on the ground, facing slightly to the left.

Female orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) with reddish-brown fur sits on tree branches in a lush rainforest in Borneo.

adult orangutan with baby

Male orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

A mother orangutan hangs from a tree branch while her baby clings to her side in the forest of Mount Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Young orangutan with reddish-brown fur sits on tree branches surrounded by dense green foliage in Indonesia.

orangutan in a tropical forest in Borneo

Illustration comparing the body plans of representative anthropoids, showing a male western lowland gorilla, a male human, a male bonobo, a female Bornean orangutan, and male and female northern white-cheeked gibbons, all labeled and depicted to scale.

A gorilla sits on a tree trunk with a blue arrow pointing to it. Large text reads, "What makes apes so special?" with trees and zoo habitat in the background.

The video thumbnail image shows two black and white photos of monkey and ape heads, surrounded by blue and pink circles.

Know how Microsoft Kinect sensor helps orangutans to interact

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Topics

Sumatran orangutan Tapanuli orangutan Bornean orangutan Orangutan or gorilla: Which is bigger?northwest Bornean orangutan central Bornean orangutan northeast Bornean orangutan tool use charismatic megafauna Sivapithecus chimpanzee gorilla bonobo Gigantopithecus

Key People

Biruté Galdikas

Biruté Galdikas

primatologist, conservationist, and educator

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