Expedition 🇮🇩 Indonesia
Orangutan in Indonesia
The person of the forest — a red-haired great ape found only in the rainforest canopies of Borneo and Sumatra.
Rare🦧 Orangutan
★★★★★
The species
The orangutan is the largest tree-dwelling mammal on Earth and one of our closest living relatives, sharing roughly 97% of our DNA. Its name comes from the Malay words orang hutan — person of the forest — and anyone who has watched one move through the canopy understands why. Deliberate, intelligent, and startlingly expressive, orangutans plan routes through the treetops days in advance and pass tool-use techniques from mother to infant.
Habitat in Indonesia
Orangutans are found exclusively in the lowland tropical rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra, where they spend more than 90% of their lives in the canopy. They favour river valleys and peat-swamp forests rich in fruiting trees, building a fresh sleeping nest of folded branches every single night.
Where to spot one
Tanjung Puting National Park
Central Kalimantan, Borneo
Riverboat safaris through peat-swamp forest with near-guaranteed orangutan sightings at feeding stations along the Sekonyer River.
Komodo National Park
East Nusa Tenggara
The only place on Earth to see wild Komodo dragons, patrolling savanna hillsides between pink-sand beaches and manta-filled reefs.
Bali Barat National Park
West Bali
The last wild stronghold of the Bali starling, alongside rusa deer, langurs, and over 160 other bird species.
Gunung Leuser National Park
North Sumatra
One of the last places where orangutans, tigers, elephants, and rhinos still share the same rainforest.
Conservation status
Bornean orangutan populations have fallen by more than half since 1999, driven by deforestation for palm oil, logging, and fires. Protected reserves and rehabilitation centres in Kalimantan and Sumatra are now critical strongholds for the species.
Keep exploring
Keep exploring
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Log the Orangutan in Indonesia
A rare discovery waiting in the field.
