This extraordinary and definitive book about orangutans is based on the ten years of research that author and scientist Anne Russon has undertaken studying orangutan behavior. The only great apes found in Asia, these arboreal wizards are by nature elusive and solitary, and inhabit nearly inaccessible tropical rain forests. The tragedy is that orangutans are now near extinction, surviving in the wild only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where human influx is rapidly appropriating their habitat. Orangutan populations have been further devastated by the human trade in captive primates. For those orangutans who do survive captivity, there are special sanctuaries in Indonesia and Malaysia which offer rehabilitation and a return to forest life.
