Summary

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Southwest Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) are present in Tanjung Puting National Park.
The population size is estimated to be 6,000 individuals.
The orangutan population trend is unknown.
The total site area is 4082.86 km².
The main reported threats include illegal logging, forest fires, mining, and human-orangutan disease transmission.
The main conservation activities have focused on raising awareness in the community, eco-toursim activities and restoring habitats.

Site characteristics

Tanjung Puting National Park lies along Borneo’s south-central coastline and spans about 4,000 square kilometers. Its landscape includes freshwater peat swamps, lowland dipterocarp forests, and heath forests. Orangutans occupy roughly 75% of the park, although between a third and half of the area has suffered environmental degradation (WWF 2005).

Table 1. Basic site information for Tanjung Puting National Park

Species	Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii
Area	4082.86 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -2.984189 , Lon: 111.932640
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical swamp forest
Type of governance	Governance by government

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Tanjung Puting National Park

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii	2004					Tanjung Puting National Park			Singleton et al. 2004	Although the park supports a substantial and viable orangutan population, recent estimates suggest that approximately 6,000 individuals still inhabit the reserve (Singleton et al. 2004).

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Tanjung Puting National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Present (unknown severity)	Illegal mining activities reported, details unknown (WWF 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Illegal logging has been identified as the primary threat, and addressing this issue remains highly challenging (WWF 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
7 Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	Present (unknown severity)	Wildfires were also documented (WWF 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	8.4 Pathogens	Present (unknown severity)	The close contact between humans and orangutans at tourist locations is still a concern, as their genetic similarity increases the risk of spreading diseases between the two species (Gillespie et al. 2008). Research at Tanjung Puting has found that ex-captive orangutans are social by nature, frequently moving in groups and initiating play with wild females and their young, as well as interacting with nests. However, these individuals have also been exposed to human-borne illnesses, with cases of respiratory and skin infections being transmitted among them (Yeager 1997).	1997-Ongoing (2008)

Threats

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Tanjung Puting National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	Tanjung Puting National Park has held protected status since 1982 (Sherman et al. 2022).	1982-Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration	5.6 Habitat restoration	Habitat management activities were reported to be present (Sherman et al. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
8 Permanent presence	8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Visitors have the opportunity to see/visit ex-captive orangutans in three designated zones of the park—Camp Leakey, Tanjung Harapan, and Pondok Tanggui (Brend 2006).	Ongoing (2006)
4 Education & awareness	Other	Community outreach and capacity building activities were reported, but details are unknown (Sherman et al. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)

Conservation activities

Challenges

Enablers

Research activities

Since 1971, NGOs and research organizations have been conducting research in Tanjung Puting National Park (Sherman et al. 2022). Research at Camp Leakey, OuTrop, and Pondok Ambung began in the 1970s–80s and continues to provide key data on orangutan demographics, nesting density, health, and behavior (Rahman 2010).

Documented behaviours

Exposure to climate change impacts

External links

References

Brend, S. (2006). Tanjung Puting National Park: Orangutans and their habitat. The Orangutan Foundation & Yayorin.

Gillespie, T. R., Nunn, C. L., & Leendertz, F. H. (2008). Integrative approaches to the study of primate infectious diseases: Implications for biodiversity conservation and global health. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 51, 53–69.

Rahman, D. A. (2010). Habitat characteristics and preferences of orangutan nest trees (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in Tanjung Puting National Park (Camp Leakey case study). Jurnal Primatologi Indonesia, 7(2), 37–50.

Sherman, J., Voigt, M., Ancrenaz, M., Wich, S. A., Qomariah, I. N., Lyman, E., Massingham, E., & Meijaard, E. (2022). Orangutan killing and trade in Indonesia: Wildlife crime, enforcement, and deterrence patterns. Biological Conservation, 276, 109744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109744

Singleton, I., Wich, S., Husson, S., Utami Atmoko, S., Leighton, M., Rosen, N., Traylor-Holzer, K., Lacy, R., & Byers, O. (2004). Orang-utan population and habitat viability assessment: Final report. IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Apple Valley, MN.

World Wide Fund for Nature. (2005). WWF’s species action plan for the conservation of orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) in the wild. https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/orangutan_sap_wwf.pdf

Yeager, C. P. (1997). Orangutan rehabilitation in Tanjung Puting National Park, Indonesia. Conservation Biology, 11(3), 802–805.

Page created by: Aime Mizero Date: 2025-05-29