A Kid’s Guide to Helping Orangutans

Orangutans are amazing, intelligent apes that live in the rainforests in Sumatra and Borneo – two islands in Indonesia. Here are our top five orangutan facts!

The name “orangutan” literally means “person of the forest” in the Indonesian language.
A group of orangutans is called a buffoonery! Orangutans are known for their playful, curious and sometimes silly nature, making this name a perfect fit.
Orangutans have reddish-brown hair to help them blend in with the trees. It’s their natural camouflage.
Orangutans eat hundreds of different plants, helping to spread seeds through the rainforest. They’ll happily munch through delicious treats like figs, mangoes, and durians. But they’re not picky eaters! They’ll also eat leaves, shoots, insects and even a bit of bark.
Every night, orangutans build a new nest to sleep in. This creates gaps in the rainforest canopy which allows light through to the forest floor, helping plants to grow lower down and keeping the rainforest healthy.

Why do orangutans need our help?

The best way to help protect orangutans is to protect their rainforest homes.

Orangutans need the rainforest to survive. They need large areas of connected rainforests to help them find food and shelter and to give them enough space to roam. Did you know orangutans can travel up to two miles each day? In Sumatra, areas of the rainforest are being cut down. They are being cut down to build roads, farms and other important things which local people need. This means the orangutans have less space to live and find food and shelter. This is one reason why there are so few left in the wild.

How many orangutans are left?

There are three different types (or species) of orangutans. There is the Bornean orangutan, the Sumatran orangutan, and the Tapanuli orangutan (which also lives in Sumatra). Sadly, all three species are critically endangered – this means that there are not many of them left and their populations are getting smaller. Now, only 14,000 Sumatran orangutans and just 800 Tapanuli orangutans remain in the wild. There are around 104,700 Bornean orangutans left.

Learn more about orangutans >>

Why are rainforests important?

Orangutans share their rainforest with many other wonderful animals, like tigers, elephants and rhinos. So, if you help to protect the rainforest, you will also be helping to protect thousands of other animals.

But it’s not just orangutans who need the rainforest. People do too! Think of the rainforest as a giant green blanket that helps to keep our whole planet safe and healthy. It can absorb huge amounts of rainfall, giving people a steady water supply and reducing the risk of floods. Rainforests are also important for slowing climate change – we call them ‘carbon sinks’ as the trees in the rainforest breathe in lots of ‘greenhouse gases’.

The rainforests are also important for the local people who live there, as they provide food, resources such as wood, and other things that the people need to survive.

All about palm oil

You may have heard of palm oil: a type of vegetable oil that is found in lots of the products we buy. It can be found in everything from chocolate and ice-cream, to shampoo and soap. Most of the palm oil we use comes from Indonesia and Malaysia – where orangutans live.

You may have been told that we need to stop buying palm oil – however, this isn’t true. You don’t have to give up products containing palm oil. Instead, we must choose sustainable palm oil.

What is sustainable palm oil?

Sustainable palm oil is grown in a way which doesn’t harm rainforests, wildlife or the people who live around rainforests. Luckily, most of the palm oil in the products we buy are already from sustainable farms.

People have been calling on companies to make sure they only use sustainable palm oil for many years – and the companies listened! Deforestation for palm oil in Indonesia, where orangutans live, has dropped a huge amount thanks to people choosing sustainable palm oil.

Why should we choose sustainable palm oil?

It takes less land to grow palm oil, when compared to other vegetable oils like sunflower, soybean, coconut or rapeseed oil. If you ‘boycott’ palm oil, it means you have to use a different oil instead. These other oils can actually be worse for the environment as they need more land to grow the same amount of oil, so more forest will need to be cut down.
The people who live around rainforests, like those in Sumatra, need palm oil as it gives them jobs and supports their families. They can grow sustainable palm oil too.
By choosing products with sustainable palm oil we can encourage companies and farmers to grow palm oil in a way that is better for orangutans and rainforests.

Read: Guardians of the Forest

Our heartwarming story beautifully portrays the relationship between humans and nature, and follows a young girl living in a village bordering a vibrant rainforest. She envisions a future where both wildlife and people can thrive together, promoting sustainability and care for the environment.

Read the storybook here >>

What can you do to help orangutans?

If you love orangutans as much as we do – you can help to protect them and their rainforest homes. No matter how old you are, your actions make a big difference.

Be a smart shopper. Look for products with the label “sustainable palm oil”. You can check whether the palm oil in your products is sustainable with the Palm Oil Scan app.
Spread the word. Tell your friends and family about orangutans, their rainforest homes and encourage them to choose sustainable palm oil.
Get your school involved: You can send our schools pack to your teachers. You can create posters and other activities to help teach people about orangutans.
Support orangutan charities: Consider raising money to help support charities like us. SOS is working with our partners in Sumatra to help protect orangutans and rainforests. Get started with our fundraising guide.
Ask your parents to sign up for SOS updates: Your parents can follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter – Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

Wear your love for orangutans loud and proud!

Show your love for orangutans and help us to protect them with these amazing t-shirts. Made from extra soft, kind to skin organic cotton. Printed in the UK in a renewable energy powered factory.

Shop our kids range of orangutan t-shirts >>

What do these words mean?

Boycott	A boycott is when a group of people decide to stop buying something as a way of protest.
Carbon sink	A ‘carbon sink’ is something which sucks up carbon dioxide – a type of gas. Rainforests are an important ‘carbon sink’ as their trees breathe in carbon dioxide and then make oxygen for us to breathe.
Climate change	Climate change is the phrase used to describe how the earth is getting warmer and how the weather can change, such as more storms, hotter summers and colder winters.
Deforestation	Deforestation is the word used when people cut down trees.
Endangered	Endangered means that there are only a few of something left in the whole world. Critically endangered means there are even fewer left. If we don’t take care of them, they might disappear forever.
Greenhouse gas	‘Greenhouse gas’ is a special kind of gas around the earth which traps heat from the sun. This can be good because it helps keep our planet warm enough to live on. But, when there is too much of it, the planet gets too hot.
Palm oil	Palm oil is a type of oil that comes from the fruit of a palm tree. It is in lots of things we use, like food, soap, and fuel.
Sustainable	Sustainable means taking care of our planet for the future, so that all the people who come after us, can also enjoy it and live here too. It means using things wisely and not just using up all the good stuff.
Sustainable palm oil	Sustainable palm oil is grown in a way which doesn’t harm rainforests, people or animals.