FEATURED ANIMAL Orangutan SCIENTIFIC NAME Pongo abelii Sumatran and Pongo pygmaeus Bornean FEATURED SCIENTIST Dr Meredith Bastian FEATURED Z00 Smithsonian's National Zoo ANIMAL STATUS Critically endangered
CHAPTER 1 TREETOP TEACHERS Z00 VISITORS WHO STARE INTO BATANG S WARM BROWN EYES SEE INTELLIGENCE A twenty one year old orangutan she lives at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC Many of the things she does might remind you of well you At bedtime she often makes a pillow and blanket for her nest of hay And she cuddles her young son Redd as lovingly as you might cuddle a younger sibling or a pet A sign outside the orangutan enclosure at the National Zoo explains that the apes red coloring mimics shadows in the forest's canopy As little as 30 feet 9 meters above the forest floor orangutans essentially disappear which is surprising given their bulk Fully grown wild male orangutans can weigh up to 220 pounds 100 kilograms and wild females can weigh up to 120 pounds 54 kg Z00 orangutans tend to be between 50 to 100 pounds 23 to 45
CHINA THAILAND VIETNAM MALAY PENINSULA South China Sea Borneo HISTORIC ORANGUTAN RANGE Historic range Current international border NO ONES Sumatra Java heavier because of their nutritious diet Visitors who watch orangutans travel the O Line the zoo's overhead trail discover that they look like kids scaling a cargo net on the playground Wild orangutans live in only two places in the world the Southeast Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo But those populations are at risk because the number of trees on the islands shrinks every year Farmers burn the forest to clear the land for palm oil plantations Palm oil is a cash crop for the farmers and is a common ingredient in many everyday items including cookies and cakes lotions shampoos and toothpastes The remaining estimated 54 000 Bornean orangutans and 14 600 Sumatran orangutans live in isolated forest fragments where they struggle to find enough food Sometimes they eat and nest in oil palm trees on the plantations but when they do so they are more likely to have contact with people and dogs that might hurt or kill them MALAY PENINSULA South China Sea IMALA MALAYSIA Sarawak IMALAYSIA Εραρατε Borneo K INDONESIA INDIAN OCEAN Sumatra INDONESIA MOOREN AL Java Sea CURRENT ORANGUTAN RANGE Sumatran orangutan range Bornean orangutan range Current international border Java
IS YOUR CEREAL KILLING ORANGUTANS 01745 19 40 AM Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping Orangutan Friendly Cheilo O Quick Product Search Barcode Scan Gulp You probably didn't know that your breakfast affects orangutans Cereal cookies chips candy soups doughnuts nearly every food packaged in a box or a bag contains palm oil Sometimes the label simply says palm oil and sometimes it lists a complex scientific name such as cetyl palmitate which means the same thing Palm oil is the most common type of vegetable oil used around the world Most palm oil comes from huge plantations or farms in areas where humans have cut down or burned rain forests The animals that lived in these forests either died or moved elsewhere But thanks to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo the Philadelphia Zoo the Smithsonian's National Zoo and other conservation organizations many manufacturers have begun to buy deforestation free palm oil from plantations that don't destroy rain forest habitat If you love Cheerios the news is good General Mills purchases palm oil from orangutan friendly farmers But what about your snacks soaps and toothpaste Download the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil app for Android or Apple devices to find out if the products you buy keep orangutans safe out The Sustainable Palm o C E o 1 2 o The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil app allows users to scan a bar code and find out if the product contains palm oil from orangutan sources friendly
