Orangutan is Malaysian for “person of the forest.” Though morphologically orangutans may resemble melted Muppets more than people, their sophisticated cognitive abilities are very human indeed. Like gorillas and chimpanzees, they have been known to use tools. Threatened largely by logging and capture for the exotic pet trade, orangutans—restricted to the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra—number about 120,000 per the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. A 2011 survey revealed that more than 50 percent of the original Bornean orangutan population had been killed in the previous 40 years. Unlike other great apes, orangutans are usually solitary or live in groups of fewer than three, making them difficult to track and study.
