Where do orangutans live? And 8 other orangutan facts

• Orangutan habitat — They live only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra and spend nearly their entire lives in trees.
• Major threats — Deforestation from palm oil and agriculture, plus the illegal pet trade, are driving all three species toward extinction.
• Population crisis — Fewer than 120,000 Bornean, about 13,846 Sumatran, and fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans remain, a dramatic decline from a century ago.

The three species of orangutan, Bornean, Sumatran, and Tapanuli, differ slightly in appearance and behavior. The Bornean and Sumatran species have shaggy reddish fur; Sumatran orangutans have longer facial hair and seem to have closer social bonds than their Bornean cousins. Bornean orangutans are more likely to descend from trees on occasion and move around on the ground.

The Bornean orangutan is listed as Critically Endangered and numbers approximately 104,700; the Sumatran orangutan is considered Critically Endangered with an estimated population of 13,846 individuals, and the Tapanuli orangutan is also Critically Endangered with an estimated population of fewer than 800. A century ago, more than 230,000 orangutans likely roamed in the wild.

Fruit makes up about 60% of the orangutan's diet, including lychees, mangosteens, mangoes, and figs. They also eat young leaves and shoots, insects, soil, tree bark, and occasionally eggs and small vertebrates. Water comes from fruit as well as tree holes.

The name orangutan translates to 'man of the forest' in the Malay language.