Celebrate World Orangutan Day
August 19th is World Orangutan Day, this great ape is known as the old man of the forest and lives in the rich rain-forests of South East Asia. However, as a result of deforestation caused by the palm oil industry, these magnificent creatures are on the brink of extinction. World Orangutan Day was established in order to raise awareness amongst the general public about their situation in the hopes that they will lend their support in protecting them.
History of World Orangutan Day
You will only find orangutans in two places in the world, Borneo and Sumatra. There are actually two species of orangutan that live in the rainforests of Indonesia but they are considered a single species. According to research, these two species did in fact used to be a single species, but diverged about 400,000 years ago.
Some facts
Orangutans have huge arms that span about 2.1 metres long from tip to tip. This is astonishing when you consider that the height of an orangutan is only 1.5 metres above the ground. Occasionally an orangutan will actually stand upright and when they do that, their hands almost brush the ground! Their arm length suits their arboreal lifestyle enabling them to leap from tree to tree, where they spend 90% of their time. This of course means that deforestation is devastating for their lifestyle because it is in the tree tops where they forage for food. World Orangutan Day is designed to raise awareness about the people of the forest who require our protection before they disappear forever.
How to celebrate International Orangutan Day
You should take the time to learn everything you can about these fascinating animals. Find out where and how they live. They have extremely interesting familial lives and develop complex social relationships. Once you have done that you can make a donation to help their conservation by adopting an orangutan with WWF. Tell your friends and family about what you have learned and ask them to consider adopting an orangutan as well. If you do that, there is hope that this amazing species will live on for a good while yet.
