The name "orangutan" is derived from the Malay and Indonesian words orang meaning "person" and hutan meaning "forest", thus "person of the forest".

ZooTampa at Lowry Park
Tampa, Florida
November 2019

Bornean Orangutan by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Fruit is the most important component of the orangutan diet; however, the apes will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects and even bird eggs. They can live over 30 years in both the wild and captivity. Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates; they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage.

Native to Malaysia and Indonesia, the longhaired red great apes can be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The orangutan is considered endangered in the wild due to critical habitat loss, increased use of palm oil, poaching and pet trade. The population declined more than 50 percent during the last 60 years.

Bornean Orangutan


ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Tampa, Florida is home to three generations in an 8-member troup of orangutans. Three different mothers care for their young ones.

Bornean Orangutan


Josie is technically the "grandma" of the family, she gave birth to GoJo, a boy, in 2016.

GoJo and Josie


ZooTampa participates in 95 Species Survival Plan projects. The zoo also hosts a hospital for Florida manatees in which injured animals are rehabilitated with the intent of returning them to the wild. The zoo works in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to rescue, rehabilitate and release Florida’s endangered manatees.

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