A hybrid orangutan or cocktail orangutan is usually an orangutan derived from interbreeding between any of the three Orangutan species:

Bornean Borean (also Boreal or Boralean)http://ehl.santafe.edu/EhlforWeb.pdf is a hypothetical linguistic macrofamily that encompasses almost all language families worldwide except those native to the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and the Andaman Islands. ...

(''Pongo pygmaeus''), Sumatran (''Pongo abelii'') and Tapanuli (''Pongo tapanuliensis''), but the term "hybrid orangutan" could also refer to hybrids of the three known Bornean subspecies. As of 2015, there are approximately 134 living Bornean x Sumatran hybrid orangutans in captivity.

Hybrids in captivity

Before Bornean and Sumatran orangutans were described as separate species in the early 2000s, orangutans from differing species were paired in captivity, and produced hybrid offspring. In 1985, the Orangutan SSP within the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in ...

(AZA) issued a moratorium on the breeding of Sumatran x Bornean hybrids. In 1994, it was recommended that those hybrids should be sterilised if they are housed in a situation where breeding may happen. The Tapanuli orangutan was not described as a separate species until 2017, which led to some interbreeding between Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans in captivity. In 2022, an orangutan named Bubbles, who was previously thought to be Sumatran, was found to be Tapanuli, making her offspring hybrids of both the Sumatran and Tapanuli species. It is possible that there are still many undiscovered Sumatran x Tapanuli hybrids in captivity. Bornean orangutans have three known subspecies: P. p morio, P. p pygmaeus and P.p wurmbii. In captivity, these subspecies are housed together and not managed at a subspecies level. After many generations of hybridisation, there are likely very few “pure” individuals left.

Hybrids in Borneo

From 1971 to 1985, 90 orphaned or displaced orangutans rescued from

illegal wildlife trade Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...

were released into Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan. A subsequent genetic survey determined that at least two orangutans, captured in a different region and therefore not native to the park, had prolifically interbred with the local native apes, and produced at least 22 hybridized descendants. Their offspring contributes to fears that interbreeding of subspecies leads to "hybrid vigor", in which "offspring reap the benefits of their parents' individual qualities".

Notes

{{Mammal hybrids Orangutans Mammal hybrids