Habitat destruction and disturbance, especially due to commercial logging are a major threat to Orangutans. Only about 2 percent of the orangutan's original forest habitat remains, much of it in areas now ravaged by fire or affected by the thick haze.
Prior to the fires the entire orangutan population was estimated to be around 30,000 individuals.
The IUCN considers [Pongo pygmaeus] as "Vulnerable". CITES lists the species as "Appendix 1".