The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) has just announced Sumatra's first ever successful sentence of an illegal orangutan owner and trader in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The seven-month prison sentence is only the third for Indonesia, despite orangutans being strictly protected under Indonesian law since 1924.

Time may be running out for orangutans living in the rainforests of Sumatra, it has been warned.

According to the Jakarta Post, the "auburn haired" creatures may be facing extinction as they can now only be found in the north of Sumatra and Aceh, areas which are both being hit by deforestation.

The name “orangutan” literally translates into English as “man of the forest”. It comes from Malay and Bahasa Indonesian orang (man) and hutan (forest).

Orangutans are extremely intelligent creatures who clearly have the ability to reason and think. Their similarity to us is uncanny. Baby orangutans cry when they’re hungry, whimper when they’re hurt and smile at their mothers. They express emotions just like we do: joy, fear, anger, surprise…. it’s all there. If you take a few minutes and watch an orangutan, you’ll swear they’re just like us. And they kind of are….

By Donald Liebenson-Special to the Tribune
November 13, 2009

A sibling drama is playing out in the replicated rain forest treetops of Brookfield Zoo's Tropic World exhibit: Denda, a 7-year-old orangutan, is snacking on a clump of alfalfa, and his toddler sister, Kekasih, wants what he's having. But she has to catch him first,  and Denda has quickly climbed to the habitat's highest point.