Data indicates that the number of Sumatran orangutans could decrease by close to 80% … Today, that number has shrunk by more … Without drastic intervention, orangutans may soon be extinct as biologically viable populations in the wild. Because there are fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans in the wild, the species was instantly given Critically Endangered status. There are three identified species of orangutan – the Sumatran, Tapanuli and Bornean. There are three identified species of orangutan – the Sumatran, Tapanuli and Bornean. The orangutans of Southwest Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) are the largest and most populous of the three Bornean […] CONTINUE READING. The Tapanuli orang-utan is the most endangered great ape of all. Tapanuli orangutans resemble Sumatran orangutans more than Bornean orangutans in body build and fur color. Studies have indicated that there are three subspecies on Borneo. Humans also hunt orangutans and capture the offspring to be sold as pets. However, they have frizzier hair, smaller heads, and flatter and wider faces than the other species. Tapanuli orangutans have smaller heads. It is estimated that there are fewer than 800 Tapanuli orang-utans left in the wild. According to IUCN estimates in 2016, there are only around 104,700 Bornean orangutans and 13,835 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild. Ecology and behaviour. 100 years ago there were thought to be 315,000 orangutans in the wild. With no more than 800 individuals in existence, the Tapanuli orangutan is the most endangered of all great apes. Less than 800 individuals remain in the wild; They are only found in the Batang Toru Ecosystem, in all three subdistricts of Tapanuli, North Sumatra; In total, the Batang Toru Ecosystem comprises 150,000 hectares, with just 110,000 (1,100 km2) of this as current orangutan habitat; All species are highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching. Unfortunately, as soon as it was re-discovered in 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan was classified as the most endangered great ape species. The newfound orangutan species is endangered—like its Sumatran and Bornean orangutan kin. There are three species – Bornean, Sumatran orangutan and Tapanuli All three species are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 70,000 Bornean, 14,000 Sumatran and 800 Tapanuli orangutans left in the wild Human activities such as deforestation pose a significant threat to orangutans in the wild. That small area is now being threatened by the deforestation and road construction making its way through the Sumatran jungles. With fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans estimated to live in the wild, further fractured into three small groups, this species has a particularly vulnerable head count; in comparison, Bornean orangutans number approximately 55,000, while Sumatrans number about 14,000. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that there were 230,000 orangutans in the wild a century ago. Photograph by Tim Laman, Nat Geo Image Collection An adult male naps in a tree. Studies have indicated that there are three subspecies on Borneo. There are now less than 14,600 left in Sumatra, and less than 54,000 in Borneo.