An orangutan cools himself off with a wash cloth at Tama Zoological Park, outside of Tokyo, Japan. Orangutans ('man of the forest' in Malay) are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools. They also make sleeping nests each night from branches and leaves (often with covers to protect from rain). Orangutans are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, though they once roamed Java, Thailand, Vietnam and Mainland China. Although populations used to be in the millions, today they are gravely threatened with extinction due to habitat destruction from logging, farming, gold mining, fires (forest fires are intentionally set to clear land for oil palm plantations) and poaching for the pet and entertainment industry.
