We Could Lose Two Orangutan Species In The Next Few Decades If Action Is Not Taken

Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/save-orangutans/

The orangutan is a rare and majestic animal, and the only Great Ape of Asia, of which there are two species found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

The orangutan’s name means “man of the forest,” which is fitting considering they share 97% of their genetic DNA with humans.

Both the Bornean and Sumatran orangutans have experienced sharp population declines in the last century.

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There are three species of orangutan found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

While there were once more than 230,000 orangutans in total, only about 104,700 Bornean orangutans remain, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. There are only about 7,500 Sumatran orangutans are alive in the wild. A third species of orangutan discovered in Sumatra in 1997, the Tapanuli orangutan, numbers fewer than 800 individuals.

The IUCN classifies both species as critically endangered.

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Sumatran orangutans are largely arboreal, and spend most their lives in trees.

If current trends continue, it has been projected that the Bornean orangutan will lose 70-80% of its forest habitat and become extinct in the wild in less than 50 years. By then, the Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan could already be extinct.

The biggest threat to these animals is the destruction and degradation of the tropical lowland rainforests in Borneo and Sumatra, which is done through illegal logging, forest fires, mining and small-scale shifting cultivation, The Orangutan Foundation reports. Farmers are clear-cutting the forests and destroying the natural habitat of the orangutan so they can grow and harvest palm oil, which they can sell to be used in many everyday food and cosmetic products.

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By current estimates, we will lose the Tapanuli and Sumatran orangutan within the next few decades, and the Bornean orangutan not long after that

Orangutan habitat is being cleared at an alarming rate to make room for palm oil plantations. Because the Sumatran orangutan is almost exclusively arboreal, with males only rarely traveling on the ground and females almost never, deforestation has a much greater impact on the survival of the species.

Poaching orangutan infants and hunting for meat also threatens the species, the Orangutan Project reports. Mothers are often killed for their babies, which are then sold on the black market for pets as they are cute. But orangutan babies require their mother’s milk until the age of 6 years, and those that are sold into captivity are often denied that need.

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Help us save the critically endangered orangutan!

Wild orangutans will disappear If palm oil plantations, deforestation, poaching and hunting are not substantially reduced.

Help us send a message to the UN and the government of Indonesia that the orangutan is too important to lose to greed. Click below and take action for these species!