RESEARCH performed since 1997 involving 37 genomic-genetic, morphologic and primate behavior researchers from 35 scientific institutions in 10 countries has concluded that orangutans in the Batang Toru Forest, North Sumatra, are, in fact, a distinct species.

The species, given the name Pongo tapanuliensis, was the third to receive a binomial name after the Kalimantan orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), through a re