How does poaching harm orangutans? Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered and fewer than 15,000 of them are thought to remain in the wild. Widespread destruction of their rainforest habitat, as a result of logging, mining and palm oil production, has pushed the Sumatran orangutan to the brink of extinction. Illegal poaching of the species is another of the biggest factors affecting their declining numbers. Fragmented populations split up by roads and plantations make easy targets for traffickers, according to the sell them on as pets and police say Ung Aing and Natalee were intended to be sold on to the tourism industry.