The Tapanuli orangutan, scientifically described in 2017 as the world's newest great ape species, has simultaneously become the most endangered with fewer than 800 individuals remaining in the wild within North Sumatra's Batang Toru Ecosystem in Indonesia.
The species' habitat range declined by 60 percent between 1985 and 2007 due to forest conversion for agricultural and industrial purposes, alongside illegal killing, leading to its classification as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List.
According to Amanda Hurowitz, senior director at environmental advocacy group Mighty Earth, the species continues facing the same threats as in 2017 including illegal deforestation, hunting, young orangutan trade, and two major construction projects—a hydroelectric dam and a gold mine—that further encroach on their already limited habitat.
Professor Serge Wich from Liverpool John Moores University, part of the team that identified the new species, emphasized in August 2025 that the primary challenge is the lack of collaboration among stakeholders and the absence of an action plan based on current scientific knowledge to safeguard the species.
The IUCN estimates that without significant changes to current conservation management approaches, the Tapanuli orangutan population will likely decline by 83 percent over the next three generations of approximately 25 years each, though a recent October 2025 discovery by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Foundation found individuals in a peat swamp 32 kilometers from their known range, offering a glimmer of hope.
