The name orangutan is believed to come from two Malay words, ‘ura? hutan‘ meaning ‘forest people’ or ‘forest men’ (Wayan Jarrah Satrawan) . Apart from humans, they are the only species of great ape (or Hominid, to use the scientific term) found outside of Africa. Three species of orangutan are currently recognised, the Bornean orangutan, the Sumatran orangutan, and the relatively recently described Tapanuli orangutan.

Nowadays, orangutans are found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. That was not always so; at the beginning of the Pleistocene (the geological epoch that started around around 2.6 million years ago) a number of orangutan species were found all the way from central China, through what is now Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia, across east to Sumatra, Java and Borneo. But by the end of the Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago, some species had become extinct and range of those that remained had shrunk to the two islands. We don’t know for sure exactly why this happened; there are currently two popular theories. We know that during the Pleistocene (often called the Ice Age) the climate cooled, and large areas that had been tropical forest then became more open savannah that did not favour the slow moving, fruit-eating orangutans. Tropical forests survived on Borneo and Sumatra, providing orangutans with a refuge. Sea level fell perhaps 120 metres, thus the Sunda Shelf seabed between Southeast Asia and the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Java became dry land. As the land warmed, and tropical forest returned to parts of their original range, so sea level once again rose. Borneo and Sumatra became islands, trapping the remaining orangutans. The second theory is that hunting by man, and in particular the development of bone tools such as bone spear and arrow tips. The sharp decline towards the end of the Pleistocene appears similar to the rapid extinction of other species following the arrival of modern man (e.g. the giant lemurs of Madagascar). Almost certainly, both factors played a role. The relative importance and timing of each is still a matter of debate.
The Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is the most abundant of the three species. Despite that it is still considered critically endangered, with only around 100,000 remaining in the wild. Habitat loss, through logging and burning forests, clearance for palm oil plantations and for agriculture, are major factors in this. Individuals being killed through conflict with humans, increasing as natural habitat is lost and orangutans may damage farmer’s crops, is also a major factor. The planned new capital city of Indonesia, Nusantara, currently being built in East Kalimantan, Borneo, is planned as an environmentally friendly city with major reforestation projects being part of the project. However, such a major urban development, with road and infrastructure and perhaps hundreds of thousands more people to feed, also has great risks for the orangutans in the region.
At over 33 years old Bugang (meaning ‘The Batchelor’) is old. Typically wild orangutans will life for 35-40 years. Mature males like Bugang weigh around 75kg and possess large, fleshy cheekpads (or flanges). In Bornean orangutans these have a distinctive forwards curve to them. Bugang lives on one of the artificial islands created at Samboja Lodge, within Samboja Lestari tropical Forest Restoration and Orangutan Rehabilitation Programe, East Kalimantan, Borneo. This project, Bugang is too old to be successfully released to the wild, so lives on one of the specially created islands in a natural environment. The lodge and programes are run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Fountation (BOS). BOS is a global organisation dedicated to the protection and restoration of tropical rainforest and the survival of orangutans. I visited Samboja, and being very impressed with the work they do there, both in restoration and education of the public. As this image of Bugang would not be possible without the work they do there, ten percent of profit from any sales of this print will be donated to BOS.
Further reading
Stephanie N. Spehar et al., Orangutans venture out of the rainforest and into the Anthropocene.Sci. Adv.4, e1701422(2018).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.1701422
Sastrawan, Wayan. (2020). The Word ‘Orangutan’: Old Malay Origin or European Concoction?. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia. 176. 532-541. 10.1163/22134379-bja10016. Link
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