Orangutans: Asia’s Only Great Apes

Orangutans (informal form: orangutan ) or mawas are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia . Today they are found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra , but during the Pleistocene era , they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and southern China . Orangutans are classified in the genus Pongo and were originally thought to consist of only one species. Since 1996, orangutans have been divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan ( P. pygmaeus , with three subspecies) and the […]