Meet The World's Three Orangutan Species!

Orangutans are one of the cutest animals in the world.

These cute animals stand out with their striking orange fur coat, their beady black eyes, and their adorable faces.

They also have an affectionate nickname which shows how close Orangutans are to humans. The nickname they are called is 'man of the forest'.

Orangutans are known are as the 'man of the forest'.

They are also known as the gardeners of the forest, as Orangutans are known to play an important role in the forest ecosystems that Orangutans live in.

There are two different forest ecosystems that Orangutans belong too. Those two forest ecosystems are the Sumatran rainforest and the Borneo rainforest.

Both the Sumatran rainforest and the Borneo rainforest are in Asia.

These rainforests have three different Orangutan species within them.

There are only three different species of Orangutan in the world. Let us look at the three different Orangutan species that exist within the world today.

#1 The Tapanuli Orangutan

Male Tapanuli Orangutan

Up until 2017, it was thought that there were only two different Orangutan species - the Sumatran Orangutan and the Borneo Orangutan.

But, in 2017, it was announced that there was a third species of Orangutan. That third species of Orangutan is the Tapanuli Orangutan.

Tapanuli Orangutans are the most endangered of the three Orangutans. They are critically endangered. Today, there are only around 800 of them left.

#2 The Sumatran Orangutan

Baby Sumatran Orangutan

Sumatran Orangutans are the second most endangered Orangutan.

Both the Tapanuli Orangutan and the Sumatran Orangutan are found within the Sumatran rainforest in Indonesia.

Sumatran Orangutans are also critically endangered today.

Today, the population of the Sumatran Orangutans is 14,613 Orangutans.

#3 Borneo Orangutan

Mother Borneo Orangutan With Her Baby

Borneo Orangutans are the most populous of the three species.

However, like the other two Orangutan species, Borneo Orangutans are still critically endangered, and therefore, threatened with extinction.

Even though they are critically endangered, the Borneo Orangutan does have a much higher population than the other two Orangutans we have seen.

The population for Borneo Orangutans today is 104,700 Orangutans.