Shrinking habitats threaten the life of Kalimantan orangutan

[Guest guest]

Shrinking habitats threaten the life of Kalimantan

orangutan

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda

Suparlan was shocked when he saw the state of his

banana plantation. Trees were lying on the ground and

bananas were strewn about everywhere.

The farmer assumed the perpetrators were pigs, so he

was stunned to find an orangutan trapped in a net he

set up near the plantation. He could not bring himself

to kill the orangutan, so he released him.

To Suparlan's relief, the orangutan headed for the

Kutai National Park, some five kilometers from his

banana plantation in East Kalimantan.

" This was not the first such incident. Last year,

several orangutans were found looking for food in

residential areas and captured, " said Suparlan.

More orangutans are being forced to look for food

outside of the forest because their habitat has shrunk

dramatically in recent years due to illegal logging

and the clearance of land for plantations and farms.

According to data from the Indonesian Forum for the

Environment (Walhi), Kutai National Park consisted of

two million hectares in 1934, but had shrunk to

306,000 hectares by 1957. In 1997, the park was down

to 198,604 hectares and Walhi estimates it has since

lost another 25,600 hectares due to illegal logging.

" And today the forest is continuing to shrink due to

illegal logging and land clearance, " said Syarifudin,

the director of Walhi's East Kalimantan office. There

are currently thought to be 606 orangutan living in

the national park.

The number of orangutan in the park is falling as more

of the animals die from a lack of food, as well as

from poaching.

Residents report that local middlemen sell baby

orangutans to animal traders for about Rp 200,000. The

orangutans eventually make their way to animal

markets, where they are sold for anywhere between Rp 2

million and Rp 10 million.

A spokesman for the Borneo Orang Utan Survival

Foundation, Aditya Yudhistira, said there were a

number of factors behind the declining orangutan

numbers in East Kalimantan.

He said these factors included forest fires, the

illegal trade in orangutans and habitat destruction.

The foundation is currently raising some 200

orangutans, which will be given to the East Kalimantan

Natural Resources Conservation Body before being

released back into the wild.

" The 200 orangutans were confiscated from people who

captured the animals for their own gain, " said Aditya.

 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20051018.D06 & irec=5

 

 

Michelle Desilets

BOS UK

www.savetheorangutan.org.uk

www.savetheorangutan.info

" Primates Helping Primates "

 

Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand:

http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733

 

 

 

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