Quick answer
Orangutans live only on Borneo and Sumatra — tropical lowland and peat-swamp rainforest canopy, not Africa. Three species, all Critically Endangered: Bornean Pongo pygmaeus, Sumatran P. abelii, Tapanuli P. tapanuliensis. Never feed them. Figures checked 13 August 2026.
Borneo and Sumatra — which cover?
Lowland and peat-swamp rainforest where the canopy still connects. “Tropical rainforest canopy” without the islands or the three names was the thin version of this page. They are the most arboreal great apes. They are not chimps and they are not gorillas.
What microhabitats do they use?
Fruiting crowns, nest trees, and peat-swamp stands that still hold figs. They rarely come to the ground. An oil-palm edge is lost canopy, not a preferred microhabitat. Tapanuli’s entire wild map is a North Sumatra upland sliver.
How do people shrink the map?
Logging, conversion to oil palm, fire, and roads that fragment Batang Toru. This is not a farms-and-suburbs story even when an ape takes fruit at a forest edge. An ape that lives in the canopy cannot commute across a plantation.
What does Critically Endangered geography require?
Standing forest for all three species, not one pygmaeus footnote. Watch from a distance; never feed. A rehabilitation centre is not a substitute for the block that was cleared.
Does the menu follow the map?
Yes. Mostly fruit and figs, remembered across large home ranges. Empty canopy empties the plate. Seeds in droppings only regenerate forest that is still there.
Is that the whole wild map?
Yes: two islands, three Critically Endangered species. WARN’s orangutan appeal funds partner forest-school rescue in East Kalimantan; it does not run every centre and does not map gorillas or chimps to this appeal..
Sources
Orangutan FAQs
Where do orangutans live?
Only on Borneo and Sumatra, in tropical lowland and peat-swamp rainforest canopy. They are not African apes and they are not chimps. Three species, all Critically Endangered: Bornean Pongo pygmaeus, Sumatran P. abelii, Tapanuli P. tapanuliensis. Tapanuli’s wild range is a sliver of North Sumatra’s Batang Toru forest.
Do orangutans live in Africa?
No. Gorillas and chimpanzees occupy African forest. Orangutans occupy two Southeast Asian islands. Mixing the pins mixes the threats and the appeals. There is no wild orangutan population outside Borneo and Sumatra. Do not map those African apes to the orangutan appeal.
Have they lost range?
Yes. Logging, oil-palm conversion, fire and roads punch holes in canopy that an arboreal ape cannot commute across. “Listed in our guides as Critically Endangered” was the thin status line — it hid that all three species sit at CR, not one leftover pygmaeus.
What actually protects orangutan range?
Standing forest, not a feeding platform. World Animal Rescue Network’s orangutan appeal funds partner rescue including East Kalimantan forest school — it does not run every rehab centre, and it is not a gorilla or chimpanzee appeal..
Who this page is for.This page is native range and habitat, not a sighting hotline.