About the BC SPCA Frequently asked questions Search this site How to contact us Home page - BC SPCA . When I first began my research virtually nothing was known about the life of orangutans in the wild . Orangutans are secretive, highly intelligent, and well adapted to living in the tree tops. One of the most remarkable things I have learned about orangutans is that they are perhaps the slowest breeding mammals on the planet.
Females give birth, on average, only once every eight years.
Today, orangutans are in serious trouble. Orangutan numbers are falling dramatically because of poaching and habitat destruction. Since orangutans breed so slowly their future is not bright, unless we act now.