World Orang-utan Caring Week aims to focus attention on the serious plight that Asia's only Great Ape species is facing in the wild.

Population numbers have dropped alarmingly in recent years, with habitat loss a major issue.

Clearance of rainforest timber and subsequent planting of palm oil crops are taking away the home of the orang-utans.

In Sumatra, fewer than 7,000 still survive, and in Borneo numbers have dropped to fewer than 45,000.

Without more help, there might be no significant populations left by 2020.

Melbourne Zoo will launch World Orang-utan Caring Week with a special event on the weekend of November 15 and 16 to provide visitors with information about the urgent conservation needs of orang-utans and how they can help.

The Zoo supports two programs in Indonesia that benefit wild orang-utans, one in Sumatra and another in Borneo.

A major habitat protection program in Sumatra is successfully preventing illegal use of forest products in a large area of national park where orang-utans, elephants, tigers, and other wildlife still survive.

Rangers patrol the forests on elephant-back to ensure that there is no logging, poaching, or trapping. The project also includes community environmental education and helps to develop alternative employment options.

Zoo Keepers visit Sumatra to share their expertise, and project rangers have spent time at Melbourne Zoo for further training in animal care.

Zoo staff are also sharing their skills at the Nyaru Mentang rescue and rehabilitation centre in Borneo, which currently cares for about 600 orphaned or injured orang-utans, refugees from oil palm plantation clearances.

During Orang-utan Caring Weekend at the Zoo this weekend, there will be Keeper Talks plus presentations by Horticulturists about selecting sustainable timber, with a display of timber products to help people choose environmentally-friendly building supplies that won't deprive the orang-utans of their rainforest home.