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orangutans
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Q
1
The oldest Sumatran orangutan in North America lives at the Toronto Zoo. How old is she?
A
B
C
48
YRS
37
56
X
correct!
The Toronto Zoo is home to one of the oldest living Sumatran orangutans in the world: a confident and curious female named Puppe. She is estimated to be 56 years old and has lived at Toronto Zoo since it opened in 1974. The median life expectancy for female Sumatran orangutans is about 33 years. Males have a median life expectancy of around 25 years.
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is The correct answer
2
Sumatran orangutans are a critically endangered species. How many exist in the wild?
20,000
17,400
13,800
The estimated population of wild Sumatran orangutans is 13,800. To put this into perspective, last Saturday 14,000 guests visited the Toronto Zoo – that’s more than the entire Sumatran Orangutan population. Not only is the absolute number of orangutans small, but 95 per cent live in a single population in the Leuser Ecosystem, located in Sumatra. This puts the species at high risk of extinction if a single catastrophic event were to occur.
3
How does unsustainable palm oil contribute to lost orangutan habitat?
Demand. Palm oil is a hugely popular ingredient, found in more than 50 per cent of food products, household cleaning products and beauty products.
Clear-cutting. Unsustainable palm oil producers have cut down parts of the rainforest where orangutans live to make room for oil palm trees.
Both A and B.
Palm oil is a popular commodity made from the fruit of oil palm trees. Orangutans primarily live in the old-growth tropical rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, in a climate where oil palms grow well. Huge swaths of the orangtuan’s natural habitat continue to be cut down to grow oil palms – this is called unsustainable palm oil production. Between 1985 and 2007, 60% of the lowland forest area inhabited by Sumatran orangutans was cut down. Palm oil is found in many products that we use every day. Making the choice to only buy products made with sustainably sourced palm oil is a key way to protect orangutans in the wild. Use the PalmOil Scan mobile app to help you make orangutan-friendly choices.
4
What adaptation helps orangutans move through their forest habitat?
Big, flat feet
Prehensile tail
Opposable thumbs and opposable big toes
Opposable thumbs give orangutans some of the same advantages humans enjoy, like the ability to grasp slender objects. Orangutans’ opposable toes allow them to grab objects with their feet; it’s a bit like having hands on all four limbs. As great apes (alongside humans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos), orangutans don’t have tails!
5
Sumatran orangutans are a critically endangered species and have experienced dramatic population declines since 1985. If the same rate of decline continues unabated until 2060, how much is the population forecasted to decline?
80%
72%
64%
If the rate of decline observed since 1985 continues unchanged until 2060, the orangutan population decline will exceed 80% over a three-generation period. That is why we need to act NOW to protect orangutans from extinction in the future.
You can learn more about orangutans, their lifestyle, and how you can help protect them at the Toronto Zoo’s new
orangutan habitat
and on our website: torontozoo.com/rainforestguardian
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