Why is it against the law to keep orangutans as pets?

Answer 1

Orangutans are NOT good pets! Orangutans are an endangered species,and to get a baby orangutan for the pet trade, their mother is shot, and due to poor handling most infants die en route. Even if they are born in captivity, they are taken from their mothers at birth, and this has the exact same effect it would on a human mother and child.

Orangutans are extremely strong, way stronger than any human. No matter how loving a relationship they have with their owner there is always the possibility they will attack.

As infants, they are relatively easy to care for and can be raised as a human child. When they reach adolescence however, they start to become unmanageable, to the point where they have to be confined to a cage. Not even trainers in Hollywood can handle them at this point. After a lifetime of abuse, the orangutans are either put in abreeding situation or confined to a cage. Even a relatively well equipped cage is not ideal for an orangutan. They are simply too intelligent. It is like confining a human child to a cage their whole life.

Zoos usually cannot take pet orangutans, as they learn how to be an orangutan from their mother, and have no idea how to interact with other orangutans. Many are so humanized they view themselves as humans. Zoos are usually full anyway, and the same goes for sanctuaries.

IF you love orangutans, work to protect them in the wild, visit them in the zoo, or fundraise for the Center for Great Apes, but NEVER keep one as a pet.

Answer 2

Keeping orangutans as pets is against the law for several reasons. Firstly, orangutans are highly intelligent and social animals that require a complex and natural environment to thrive. Keeping them as pets leads to significant physical and psychological harm. Additionally, orangutans are endangered species, and buying or selling them as pets encourages illegal wildlife trafficking, which poses a threat to their conservation efforts.