Sumatran Orangutan Case Study

By: Ella Earnshaw

Orangutans are great apes and are closely related to humans. About 97 percent of
their DNA is the same as ours (Homo sapiens). They are extremely patient and intelligent
mammals and are extremely observant of their surroundings. They are even smart enough
to escape from cages at the zoo. Usually, male orangutans are about 1.5 meters tall,
females being 1.2 meters tall. They can weigh up in the range of 93-130 kg (males) and 4855 kg (females). They live until there are about 60 years old and usually give births to just
one orangutan, two on rare occasions. Since they generally dont reproduce as much as
other species, it helps the species population to continue to deplete.
Extinction of the orangutans in the wild is highly likely over the next 25 years. Pongo
abelii, being scientific name of Sumatran Orangutan, are critically endangered. The Bornean
species, Pongo pygmaeus, is only endangered but is on the verge of becoming critical. Only
three of the orangutan populations in the wild contain more than 1,000 orangutans. This is a
problem because then reproduction begins to slow down even more than it already has due
to how slowly orangutans reproduce. In total, there is about 45,000 orangutans remaining.
Out of the 45,000, 14,600 are Sumatran orangutans. The populations are slowly decreasing
year by year and by 2030 the population will have gone down 4,500 orangutans. The
conservation methods have been working a bit against the causes of population decrease.
They include improvement of law enforcements, educating public, conducting research and
monitoring species, and habitat protection. Furthermore, orangutans are being helped many
ways against both abiotic and biotic factors.
Orangutans are experiencing several threats and causes of their population
decreases. They deal with loss of habitat through deforestation, palm oil plantations, illegal
hunting, illegal pet trade, and forest fires. People who want to open palm oil plantations
need space in forests so they usually burn down the trees since it is the fastest and cheapest
way to cut down/ get rid of trees. This is a major threat to orangutans because they could be
burned and possibly die, starve due to lack of food (food being burned) and loss of habitat.
The orangutans are also being hunted for reasons of trade and that adds to other factors as
to why they have become endangered.
The Sumatran orangutan population has been fluctuating over the years. In the
1900s, there was over 85,000 orangutans living in the wild. That still isnt a very significant
number, but it is better than the population in 1997 which dropped to 12,500. That is
almost 68 percent of the population dying from humans, the most destructive species on
Earth. In 2004, the orangutans living in the wild was about 7,501. In 2007, the population

continued to decrease to about 6,667 orangutans. After 2008, the population began to grow
to about 14,600 in 2015 but a forest fire occurred killing thousands of orangutans, but the
estimated amount left is currently unknown. Over the past 75 years, the population has
dropped about 80 percent, Hopefully, conservation methods work, as they were before, and
the orangutans begin to thrive again as they were in the 1900s.

1. Graph the Sumatran Orangutan population data. Place time on the X axis
and number of orangutans on the Y axis.
1900
1975
1997
2004
2007
2015
2030

Sumatran Orangutan Population

85,000
30,000
12,500
7,501
6,667
14,600
4,500

1. What were the threats/causes of orangutan population decreases?

2. How much of the orangutan DNA is like ours (Homo sapiens)? Do you suppose
this is why they are so intelligent? Explain.

3. By 2030, what will the orangutan population be? Why do you suppose this is
going to occur?

4. How are people making space for palm oil plantations? Why do you believe
they are making so many of these production plantations?
5. How much are humans affecting the population? Explain. (Hint: What is the
percentage?)