orangutan.
genus of ape found in rainforests on the Southeast Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo
Indonesia Rescues Orangutan from Fire-Scorched Borneo Forest
Wildfires in Indonesian Borneo have displaced orangutans: rescuers found a roughly 20-year-old female in a burned forest, likely starving but without apparent injuries, while eight orangutans rescued from fire-damaged areas were released into safer protected habitat after veterinary checks. The fires have also prompted a broader wildlife rescue effort as habitat loss threatens the critically endangered apes.
Environment · 8 sources · Oct 15, 2026Read it
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About orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were originally considered to be one species. In 1996, they were divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan ; a third species, the Tapanuli orangutan, was identified definitively in 2017. The orangutans are the only surviving members of the subfamily Ponginae, which diverged genetically from the other hominids between 19.3 and 15.7 million years ago.
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