Orangutans (Pongo spp.) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Prehistoric distribution

• Distribution spanned across mainland Asia from northern India, to southern China, Viet Nam, the Malay peninsula, and Java

Present range

• Orangutans are the only great apes found today outside of Africa (Delgado & Van Schaik 2000)
• Sumatra and Borneo
• Fragmented distribution
  • In Borneo, at least 61 small fragments
  • In Sumatra, 23 pieces

• Reduction of range during the Pleistocene
  • Most likely due to selective hunting by prehistoric humans and to changing environmental conditions

Ideal habitat

• Alluvial forest, lowland swamps, and mountain foothills
• Usually found within 10-15 km of water (stream, river, swamp)
• Need an abundance of fleshy fruits
• Seasonal changes in abundance of orangutans due to heterogeneous distribution of fruit

Elevation range

• Up to 200-400 m
• In Borneo, orangutans are not found above 500 m
• In Sumatra, some populations can be found at 1,000-1,500 m

Orangutan distribution. Black box represents the approximate distribution of the Sumatran orangutan; red box represents the Bornean organutan.

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheets for Pongo abelii and P. pygmaeus. See IUCN pages for detailed distribution.

Delgado & Van Schaik (2000)
Rijksen, and Meijaard, (1999)
Van Schaik et al., (1995)