ORANGUTANS DOOMED, SAY EXPERTS

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http://savetheorangutan.com/index2.php?id=197

 

 

Press Release ++++ 18 January 2004

For Immediate ReleaseORANGUTANS DOOMED, SAY EXPERTS

UNLESS IMMEDIATE ACTION TAKEN

 

 

Kusasi, adult male Bornean orangutan. Tanjung Puting NP,Indonesia. Ian Redmond

 

The world’s top experts in orangutan conservation, ecology, and behavior

gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia this week to assess the status of Asia’s only

great apes. New survey data and computer modeling techniques revealed a bleak

outlook for this charismatic primate.

 

Wild populations of orangutans are found only in the tropical forests on the

islands of Borneo and Sumatra, and all populations are under severe threat. New

data on the rate of deforestation has confirmed the prediction that, unless

action is taken to reverse the decline, Sumatran orangutans are likely to be the

first great ape to become extinct in the wild.

 

For the Bornean species, there was both good and bad news. Prof. Carel van

Schaik of Duke University, USA, explained, " The estimated number of orangutans

in Borneo today is higher than we thought a decade ago, but that doesn’t mean

that the actual number is higher. In fact the bad news is that, from the loss of

habitat we conclude there are at least one third fewer than there were a decade

ago. "

 

Prof. Birute Mary Galdikas, President of Orangutan Foundation International

(www.orangutan.org), added, " The problem is that habitat loss is accelerating.

It would be easy to be pessimistic, but since President Megawati ordered the

National Police Chief to clear illegal loggers from protected areas last

February, the number of loggers in Tanjung Puting National Park has plummeted

and the decrease in illegal activity in this Park is real. But sadly, in most

areas of Indonesian Borneo, illegal logging is still rampant. "

 

The main threats to orangutans are habitat loss, forest degradation, fires, and

poaching. Habitat loss is primarily due to clear cutting of the forest for

agricultural plantations - mostly palm oil. Illegal logging is rapidly degrading

remaining primary forest. Refugee orangutans are forced into small, isolated

patches of forest, most of which are too small to ensure their long-term

survival. Only a few biologically viable populations of orangutans remain.

Currently almost none of these populations are sufficiently well managed and

adequately protected.

 

Devastating forest fires, such as those in Indonesia and Malaysia during 1997

and 1998, still remain a serious potential threat and poaching for the illegal

pet trade continues. At this moment, nearly 1,000 orphan orangutans live in

rescue and rehabilitation centers. Most are infants and juveniles. It is

estimated that at least 5 individuals die for every orphan that reaches these

centers.

 

Dr. Willie Smits, Chairman of Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) - Indonesia,

declared passionately, " From the number of orangutans confiscated and smuggled

in 2003, I estimate that 6000 were lost from the wild last year. What does this

mean? Without immediate action, the orangutans are doomed. "

 

The experts made urgent recommendations to halt the decline, including:

 

Orangutan Scientific Commission formed and seed funding secured for two

coordinators, one Malaysian and one Indonesian, to maintain the momentum of the

workshop, and assist in developing the National Great Ape Survival Plans called

for by GRASP*.

Key populations must be better protected and law enforcement improved in and

outside of existing protected areas

New protected areas should be created to save newly identified viable

populations of orangutans

The Mawas area, a half million hectares large peat swamp area proposed for

protection by the BOS Foundation in Central Kalimantan, was accorded the highest

priority

The proposed Ladia Galaska road scheme should not go through Gunung Leuser

National Park because, in addition to existing threats, computer models show it

would hasten extinction of the Sumatran orangutan

Canals cut into peat swamps to float out illegal logs have to be closed to

save these important orangutan forests

 

The meeting was a PHVA - a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment

-Workshop, organized by the IUCN SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group

(www.cbsg.org), funded by the Gibbon Foundation (www.gibbon.or.id) and BOS

(Borneo Orangutan Survival) Foundation (www.savetheorangutan.info) and held at

The Schmutzer Primate Centre, Jakarta.

 

For the first time, a concerted effort had been made before the PHVA to survey

all orangutan populations across the entire orangutan range. The new surveys

were funded by Orangutan Foundation (UK) (www.orangutan.org.uk).

 

The meeting adopted the new taxonomy for orangutans, recognizing the three

described subspecies of Bornean orangutan Pongo pygmaeus, and the Sumatran

orangutan as a separate species, Pongo abelii.

 

* GRASP is the UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Project (www.unep.org/grasp)

 

For more information on orangutan research, see www.orangutannetwork.org

 

 

For detailed scientific information please contact:

 

Dr Carel van Schaik via email: vschaik

Prof Birute Mary Galdikas +1 323 938 6046 or email: siswoyo

Dr Willie Smits +62 21 788 47105 or email: priinfo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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