CURRENT PROBLEM..............................

The Sumatran species is critically endangered and the Bornean species of orangutans is endangered according to the IUCN Red List of mammals, The most recent estimate for the Sumatran Orangutan is around 7,300 individuals in the wild while the Bornean Orangutan population is estimated at between 45,000 and 69,000. These estimates were obtained between 2000 and 2003.

Orangutan habitat destruction due to logging, mining and forest fires which has been increasing rapidly in the last decade.

A major factor in that period of time has been the conversion of vast areas of tropical forest to oil palm plantations in response to international demand (the palm oil is used for cooking, cosmetics, mechanics, and more recently as source of biodiesel).

There is also a major problem with hunting and illegal pet trade. In early 2004, about 100 individuals of Bornean origin were confiscated in Thailand and were returned to Kalimantan in 2006.