There are two different kinds of orangutans. Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii). Borneo and Sumatra are the places that the last orangutans live. A century ago there were probably more than 230,000 orangutans in the whole world. Now there are about 41,000 Bornean orangutans and about 7,500 Sumatran orangutans in the whole world. Orangutans are endangered because people are chopping down all of their land and habitat. People have been clearing huge areas of forest for logging, palm oil plantations and other agriculture. Orangutans are also being hunted. Orangutan are big and slow and so they are very easy to hunt. People have been killing many orangutans for food and because when they take over the land they just kill all the orangutans. Female orangutans are especially being hunted because they are often caught with offspring and people sell the young as pets.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
You can help by buying sustainable wood, paper and palm oil. Buy sustainable certified palm oil. Look for a FSC sticker on all off your wood. Look for that sticker on anything that has anything to do with wood. Even on things like tissues, paper, furniture, ect...
