Like all Plasmodium species, P. silvaticum has both vertebrate and insect hosts.

The parasite has an approximately 48-hour life cycle and gives rise to a tertian fever.

Its prevalence varies considerably: Wolfe et al[2] found the highest Plasmodium spp.

prevalence to be 93.5% (29/31) in captive animals but 11.6% (5/43) in wild orangutans.

Despite the apparent lack of pathology, a study of the population genetics of the alpha 2 haemoglobin suggested that this parasite (or others like it) has had a significant selective effect on the orangutan genome.