ORANG UTANS IN KALIMANTAN

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Science Channel

http://www.999today.com/science/news/story/1791.html

Orang-utans are facing the threat of extinction

 

© Phil Date

Hundreds of orang-utans captured or killed each year in Kalimantan

Author: Nick Gibbens

 

6 Sep 2005

 

Hundreds of orang-utans are either killed or captured every year in Kalimantan,

the Indonesian part of Borneo, according to a new report.

 

A new TRAFFIC report, launched today to coincide with the Inter-governmental

conference of UNESCO’s Great Apes Survival Project in Kinshasa (DRC), warns that

such a trend will further the species’ decline towards extinction.

 

Based on data collected over a two-year period from wildlife markets and private

owners, zoological gardens, wildlife rescue centres, reintroduction programmes,

and the Indonesian Department of Forestry, the report shows that between 200 and

500 Bornean orang-utans originating from Kalimantan, are traded each year on

Kalimantan, Java, and Bali alone.

 

The vast majority are very young individuals, captured as pets.

 

For the majority of orang-utans observed in trade, the report highlights that at

least one other has died (usually its mother) - which means that the total

numbers killed or captured each year are likely to be far higher.

 

With a total population of orang-utans on Kalimantan estimated to be as low as

40,000, the annual removal of such a high number of orang-utans from the wild

could be a death sentence for the population.

 

According to the report, the trade in orang-utans on Kalimantan has not

decreased in the past 15 years. It also finds that although many orang-utans and

gibbons have been confiscated by authorities during the last decade in

Kalimantan, not a single offender has been prosecuted to date.

 

The average price for an orang-utan on sale in Java is US$400, 2-3 times the

original price paid to hunters in Kalimantan.

 

" This is an alarming finding, " said James Compton, Director of TRAFFIC Southeast

Asia. " It clearly shows that there is a large discrepancy between what national

conservation laws aim to achieve and what happens on the ground. "

 

TRAFFIC and the WWF conservation group are calling on the Indonesian government

for stricter implementation of the legislation on protection of threatened

species.

 

Under this law, orang-utans and gibbons are classified as " protected " , which

forbids capturing, killing, possessing, and trading these species.

 

" People who have been found in possession of protected wildlife, such as

orang-utans should be prosecuted to give a clear signal to other offenders, "

said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF's Global Species Programme.

 

" We call on Indonesian authorities to take urgent action, and to do more to make

enforcement officers and the public aware that keeping or buying protected

animals is a crime, and will not be left unpunished. "

 

Besides hunting and trade to satisfy the persistent demand for pets, orang-utans

and gibbons in Kalimantan also suffer from the loss of their forest habitat to

logging, agriculture, and forest fires.

 

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