Orangutans belong to the family Pongidae . It is also classified as Pongo pygmaeus. Orangutan or in other words " man of the woods ". The male adult weighs as much as 70 kg/ 150 lb and attains a height of 1.4 m/ 4.5 ft. A male orangutan is twice the size of a female and has an air sac hanging down from its throat. This air sack is used for making the "long call", a
throaty series of groans that can be heard a kilometer away by humans. Both male and female of this species have reddish brown hair, which is luxuriant on the arms and thighs. They can mainly be found in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra. They have extremely long arms reach a span of about 2m/7 ft, but their legs are short. Orangutans travel in small groups during the day and nest in the fork of tall trees. Adult males usually live alone, and many groups are composed solely of females and young. Sumatran orangutans are paler, and more gingerly color while Kalimantan orangutans have coarser hair. |