ORANG UTAN (Pongo Pygmaeus)
ORANG UTAN (Pongo Pygmaeus)
The Borneo / Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) belongs to the Hominidae family with a spread in Kalimantan (Indonesia), Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia). Kalimantan orangutan is one of 44 Indonesian endemic animals in Kalimantan (Santosa, 2008). Bornean orangutans are divided into three sub-types based on morphological and genetic variations, namely: Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (in the northwest part of Kalmantan and Sabah), Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii (in the southwest part of Borneo), and Pongo pygmaeus morio (in eastern Kalimantan and Sabah) ( Warren et al. 2001).
Morphology and Behavior
Viewed from the morphology, the Bornean Orangutan has a darker hair color and a larger body than the Sumatran Orangutan. Behavior Bornean orangutans in nature are moving more slowly and often doing activities down from trees and stepping on the ground. Bornean orangutans are part of a large family of apes and are the largest arboreal mammals. These animals have long hair and tangles that are dark brownish red, with colors on the face ranging from pink, red, to black. The weight of adult male Bornean orangutans can reach 50 to 90 kg and height of 1.25 to 1.5 m. While adult females have a weight of 30-50 kg and a height of 1 m. Body parts such as long arms not only function to grab food such as fruits, but also to swing from one tree to another, using range and legs for strong grip. The temple like a pillow that is owned by adult male Bornean orangutans makes this animal’s face look bigger. However, not all adult male Bornean orangutans have temples like pillows. Jakun owned can be inflated to produce loud sounds, which are used to call and notify their existence.
Conservation Distribution and Status
Orangutans are the only great apes that live in Asia, other great apes, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonodos are found in the African region (Suhud and Saleh, 2007). The total population is 90% in the territory of Indonesia, which can only be found in Borneo (Kalimantan) and in the northern part of Sumatra. Whereas according to the fossil record of experts, orangutans until the end of Pleistone can be found in most lowland forests in Southeast Asia, from the foothills of Wuliang Shan in Yunan, South China, to the south of Java Island, with a total distribution area of 1.5 million km² (Rijksen and Meijard, 1999). According to Atmoko (2007), the Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) are geographically separated at least 10,000 years ago, when sea levels rose between the two islands.
Bornean orangutans are more commonly found in lowland forests (below 500 m above sea level) than in the highlands. Forests and peatlands are central to the home range of orangutans, because they produce more large fruit trees compared to dry Dipterocarpaceae forests and many have tall woody trees, such as keruing. Borneo orangutans are very vulnerable to disturbances in their habitat, even though P.p. morio shows a relatively unexpected tolerance for habitat degradation in the northern part of Borneo Island.
Threat
All Bornean orangutan sub-species are rare species and are fully protected by Indonesian legislation. This species is classified by CITES into the Appendix I category (species that are prohibited from being traded commercially because they are very vulnerable to extinction). Some of the main threats faced by Bornean orangutans are habitat loss, illegal logging, forest fires, hunting and trafficking of orangutans to become pets. In the past decade, each year, at least 1.2 million ha of forest areas in Indonesia have been used as large-scale logging areas, illegal logging, and forest conversion for agriculture, plantations, mining and settlements. Forest fires caused by climate phenomena such as El Nino storms and prolonged dry seasons also result in reduced orangutan populations. Over the past 20 years, Bornean orangutan habitat has reduced by at least 55%.
Editor: Iin Indriawati
Photo: Entang Iskandar
Referensi :
VIS VITALIS, Vol. 02 No. 1, Maret 2009
http://www.wwf.or.id/program/spesies/orangutan_kalimantan/
