This fascinating looking creature is an orang-utan, which is a member of the great ape family. There are two species of orang-utan, the Sumatran and the Bornean, and they live in the tropical forests of these two Indonesian islands. Did you know that the word orang-utan means "man of the forest"?

Orang-utans are easily recognised by their ape-like shape, their shaggy red fur and their very long arms, which can span 2 metres from fingertip to fingertip! Their strength is in their hands and arms, as their legs are quite short and weak.

Orang-utans mostly eat fruit, leaves, tree bark, flowers and honey. One of their favourite foods is the fruit of the durian tree. I've tried eating this and it tastes like cheesy, garlic custard! Yuck! The orang-utan's diet is not strictly vegetarian – they will also eat insects and occasionally very small animals.

An orang-utan's hands and feet are a bit like human hands with a thumb and fingers which gives the orang-utan a really strong grip. This enables them to swing easily through the forest. Orang-utans spend most of their time in trees and even make themselves a nest to sleep in every night. Can you imagine sleeping in a tree?

An orang-utan's pregnancy lasts about eight months – just less than a human's does. They normally give birth to just one baby about once every eight years – the longest time between births of any mammal on Earth. There is a lot to teach a young orang-utan and a mother will look after her infant until it is about eight years old.

Orang-utans are very intelligent and have been known to make tools to scratch themselves, use big leaves as umbrellas and branches to help them collect honey and insects. In captivity, orang-utans have even learned to untie difficult knots. Amazing!

Sadly, the orang-utan's forest home is fast disappearing as it is cleared to make way for farmland or cut down to provide wood for the timber trade. Baby orang-utans are also taken from the wild and sold as pets.

Luckily WWF is working with its partners to secure a future for the orang-utan. This involves stopping the destruction of the orang-utan's forest home and educating people on the impact of taking orang-utans from the wild.