The orangutan is the rainforest primate famous for its reddish-orange hair and native to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
Orangutans are great apes, alongside chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and humans. The name orangutan derives from Malay and Indonesian words meaning “person of the forest.” They spend most of their lives in trees, using long arms and grasping hands and feet to move through the canopy.
There are three living orangutan species: the Bornean orangutan, Sumatran orangutan, and Tapanuli orangutan. The Tapanuli species was formally recognized in 2017 and has one of the smallest ranges of any great ape. Orangutans eat large quantities of fruit, but also consume leaves, bark, insects, and other foods.
They are often called solitary compared with other great apes, although mothers and young maintain strong bonds. Deforestation, especially for agriculture, is their principal conservation challenge.