bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.11.246058; this version posted August 11, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. 1 How widespread was the Tapanuli 2 orangutan and what led to its decline? 3 Erik Meijaard1,2,3,*, Safwanah Ni'matullah1, Rona Dennis1, Panut Hadisiswoyo4, Julie 4 Sherman1,5, Onrizal6 and Serge A. Wich7 5 1 Borneo Futures, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam 6 2 Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK 7 3 School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia 8 4 Orangutan Information Center, Medan, Indonesia 9 5 Wildlife Impact. PO Box 31062, Portland, Oregon, USA 10 6 University of Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia 11 7 Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK 12 13 * Corresponding author 14 E-mail:
[email protected] 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.11.246058; this version posted August 11, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. 15 Abstract 16 The Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) is the most threatened great ape species in the 17 world. It is restricted to an area of about 1,000 km2 of mostly hill forest where fewer than 800 18 animals survive in three declining subpopulations.