Orangutan News

News on Auckland Zoo’s orangutan troop and orangutan conservation.

At Auckland Zoo we care for a troop of Bornean orangutans. We’re the only wildlife organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand to have this amazing species, and where you can see them climbing 25 metres off the ground! 

Globally, there are three species of orangutan – Sumatran, Bornean and Tapanuli – all of which are decreasing in population in the wild. 

When you visit Auckland Zoo, you’re helping to conserve orangutans in the wild.  

Auckland Zoo works with conservation partners at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) and the Sumatran Ranger Project to conserve and protect orangutan in Sumatra. 

The conservation work we support at SOCP includes rehabilitating orangutans made homeless by habitat destruction or confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers and reintroducing them back into the Sumatran rainforest. 

One of the active roles of the Sumatran Ranger Project and their team of rangers is patrolling the border of the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra – this is where communities have settled, and where human wildlife conflict commonly occurs. This includes removing traps and snares and providing long term protection to the species that live there, including elephants, sun bears and tigers.  
 
With global zoo partners, we helped to develop a free easy-to-use downloadable app called PalmOil Scan that enables you to choose food, health, beauty and cleaning products from companies committed to sourcing certified sustainable palm oil. Making wildlife-positive choices at the checkout helps to protect critically endangered wildlife like orangutans and tigers and their rainforest homes. 

Read more about orangutan care and conservation in the news stories below.