Last updated on January 1, 2019
Orang-utans are the largest tree-living mammals in the world. There are two subspecies: the Bornean Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the Sumatran Orang-utan (Pongo abelli).
The Sumatran Orang-utan has a narrower face and longer beard than the Bornean, which is darker in colour.
Sumatran Orang-utans are about 1.25-1.5 metres tall. Adult males weigh up to 90kg, and females up to 50kg.
Orang-utans are largely solitary, unlike the other great apes, and spend much of their time foraging for fruit high up in the canopy of the rainforest. They rarely come to the ground and will build nests out of leaves and branches each night in the treetops.
Loss of their rainforest habitat due to logging and palm oil plantations, as well as hunting for the pet trade, has these amazing ëpeople of the forestí on the brink of extinction.
(from http://www.zoo.org.au)