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You are here: Home / Animals / How Did the Orangutan Get Its Name and What Does Orangutan Mean In Malay?

How Did the Orangutan Get Its Name and What Does Orangutan Mean In Malay?

May 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

The word Orangutan means “person of the forest” in the Malay language, and is actually 2 words.

orangutan

“Orang” means man and “Utan” means forest.

Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian living genus of great ape, and are the largest living arboreal animals.

Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they have longer arms than other great apes, and their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of black like other apes.

Currently, they are found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, although fossils have been found in Java, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

Orangutans are among the most intelligent species of the primates and eat a lot of fruit.

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Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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