All 3 in 3 days here: ~50%
Gunung Leuser National Park
🇮🇩 Indonesia
Southeast Asia, Indonesia 1160 spp. recorded
Gunung Leuser National Park is a vast tropical rainforest reserve on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Its dense canopy, steep jungle ridges, and muddy footpaths create a challenging environment for walking, yet this thick vegetation supports an extraordinary density of tree-dwelling wildlife. The park is especially famous for sheltering the Sumatran Orangutan, alongside energetic troops of Thomas’s Langur and social groups of Crab-eating Macaque that frequently forage near the forest edges during daylight hours.
3.305° N 97.661° E
🦜 Nature
480 Species sighted
8,032 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Nov Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 929 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
All 4 in 3 days here: ~10%
Recent sightings in Gunung Leuser National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
46Jan
45Feb
49Mar
50Apr
37May
44Jun
48Jul
39Aug
39Sep
44Oct
53Nov
52Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
-
East park edge
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
Thomas’s Langur~70%-10%
Sumatran Orangutan~70%-20%
Southern Pig-tailed Macaque~60%≈
Crab-eating Macaque~60%-20%
Malayan Crested Lizard~50%+20%
Green Crested Lizard~40%+10%
Many-lined Sun-skink~40%≈
Prevost's Squirrel~40%+20%
Lar Gibbon~40%≈
Diadem Roundleaf Bat~40%+10%
Spiny Terrapin~40%+10%
Common Water Monitor~20%-20%
-
Samperaya
Daily sight. prob.vs avg -
Bukit Lawang
Daily sight. prob.vs avg -
Ketambe area
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 Good
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
ExcellentHow rich is the wildlife?
5.0
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 627
🐒 Mammals 229
🦎 Reptiles 214
🐸 Amphibians 90
1160 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
109 Threatened 101 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
GoodHow likely to see animals?
3.1
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
56% 📊
Coverage (294 species at ≥5% of 1160 in the inventory)
25% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (5 mammal, 4 bird, 3 reptile)
87% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
107 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
14 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
12 🏕️
Experience
Very goodHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
3.5
Climate Harsh Low
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Low High
Trails Hard Low
World Heritage Yes Bonus
What visitors say
We also saw some chaps carrying the huge tubes back up on thier heads and backs via a small path and up the River bed where it was shallow.
After we encountered the first two orangutans, the terrain changed quite a bit.
Within the first two hours, we saw a spiny Sumatran lizard, dozens of monkeys and our first orangutan!! - A thomas leaf monkey in Bukit Lawang. - Monkeys in a tree. - A spiny Sumatran lizard. - A short-tailed macaque.
The jungle is home to many species of birds, including hornbills (we saw some in Tangkoko, in North Sulawesi).
Before you go
What animals can you see in Gunung Leuser National Park?
1,160 species
Gunung Leuser National Park has 1,160 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Sumatran Orangutan (about 80%), Thomas’s Langur (about 80%), Crab-eating Macaque (about 70%), Wagler's Pit Viper (about 70%) and Southern Pig-tailed Macaque (about 60%). Among birds, the most-seen is Yellow-vented Bulbul (about 50%); among amphibians, River Toad (about 40%).
When is the best time to visit Gunung Leuser National Park for wildlife?
May and June
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 60% on a given day, against about 50% in July to April.
Can you see a Sumatran Orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park?
Yes
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Sumatran Orangutan sighting in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 354 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is January, April–July and September (about 90%).
Can you see a Thomas’s Langur in Gunung Leuser National Park?
Yes
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Thomas’s Langur sighting in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 263 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is May (about 90%).
Can you see a Crab-eating Macaque in Gunung Leuser National Park?
Yes
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Macaque sighting in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 179 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is April, August and November–January (about 80%).
Can you see a Rhinoceros Hornbill in Gunung Leuser National Park?
Yes
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Hornbill sighting in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 157 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is October (about 60%).
Where in Gunung Leuser National Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around East park edge
The richest sighting zone is around East park edge, followed by Samperaya and Bukit Lawang, ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Gunung Leuser National Park good for wildlife watching?
3.7 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Gunung Leuser National Park rates 3.7/5: 157th of 316 parks worldwide and 15th in Southeast Asia. 17 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
