Orangutans were once widespread throughout the forests of Asia but are now confined to two Indonesian islands – Sumatra and Borneo. The Sumatran orangutan P.p. abelii and the Bornean orangutan P.p. pygmaeus are two distinct species but both are highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching.

Wild populations of Sumatran orangutan are now restricted to north Sumatra and Aceh provinces. Current estimates suggest that they could become extinct within the next ten years (Australian Orangutan Project), as the population continues to decline by as many as 1000 per year.

The Sumatran orangutan’s habitat continues to be felled for the creation of palm oil plantations www.palmoilaction.org.au and other crop fields; logging continues, even within protected areas, and planned infrastructure threaten to further fragment remaining habitats. The remaining forests suffer degradation by drought and forest fires. Sumatran legislation (dating from 1931) prohibits the owning, killing or capture of orangutans but poachers still hunt them, primarily for the pet trade.

Zoos SA is part of the regional captive breeding program for the Sumatran orangutan, and has recently introduced our female to a new male at Adelaide Zoo. Adelaide Zoo supports the Australian Orangutan Project http://www.orangutan.org.au/home.html, a non-profit organisation that distributes resources across many orangutan conservation organisations committed to orangutan conservation and habitat protection. Since mid-2006, over $2,500 has been raised through the zoo’s Planetkeeper program http://www.adelaidezoo.com.au/education. The AOP regularly set up an information booth at Adelaide Zoo during school holidays, weekends and public holidays to promote their conservation efforts.

Further donations towards in situ Sumatran orangutan conservation are raised through Adelaide Zoo’s Boileau Behind the Scenes Tours. Come and visit our Sumatran orangutans on the “Orangutan encounter” tour, learn more about them directly from their keepers, and personally contribute towards Sumatran orangutan conservation.