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Orang-utans in Borneo are in some serious mess. It is estimated that in 10 years there will be none left.
Last Easter (2007) there was this programme called Orang-utan Diary. It was all about this charity in Borneo trying to help the Orang-utans and it opened my eyes to the massive problem over there, which is largely the fault of Developed Countries.
There is this industry called the Palm Oil Industry which makes, you guessed it, Palm Oil. It can be found in tons of products like crisps. Anyway, we need somewhere to grow the palms for this oil right, and Borneo is perfect, right climate, cheap labour and lots of space, that is once you burn down thousands of acres of Rainforest. Logging and space for farming also removes the forest, destroying the homes of masses of animals, including the Orang-utan.
So now these poor orang-utans have no home. Many end up wandering hopelessly through the land now cleared that used to be theirs. This makes them vulnerable to various violent deaths:
Some tribes eat Orang-utan, unaware of the danger of extinction. An orang-utan with nowhere to hide, lost and confused, its easy picking, especially when it wanders into your village to find food. Without rainforest to provide food and hiding places, the Orang-utans could be eaten to death.
Orang-utans are the target for poachers for there skin and meat. In the rainforest, Orang-utans spend most of their lives in tree canopies, making it harder for poachers to catch them, so once this forest is removed the Orang-utan has little hope against poachers, knives and guns.
Other reason poachers are after these gentle creatures is to take the babies from the mother to sell as pets. Because infant Orang-utans cling to their mothers until the age of 4-6, stealing the baby involves killing the mother. Not only does this mean the death of a female, hindering population growth, but the violent scene is likely traumatise the infant and stay with it for life.
One orphan Orang-utan on Orang-utan Diary had a hand missing from when is clung to its Mother as she was hacked to death by men with knives.
Fires are used to burn the forest away as a method of clearing. During the dry season, the fires can become uncontrollable and spread. The smoke from the fires can be seen from space and cities like Kuala Lumpur find themselves shrouded in thick mists from the fires. Hundreds or Orang-utans burn to death, choke on the smoke or are forced into the open where they fall under attack from poachers.
If the rainforest is partially removed, then, although not ideal, the Orang-utans can survive. They are intelligent creatures and adapt. But when massive areas of forest are entirely stripped the Orang-utans have a choice: Move on or die.
And often there is no where to move as the patches of untouched rainforest become smaller and smaller.
And it's not just Borneo. Similar problems face Orang-utans in Sumatra - making the Sumatran Orang-utans the nearest to extinction.
HOWEVER!
There is a lot of help trying to reach the Orang-utans.
There are numerous charities opening Orphanages in Borneo for Orang-utan infants who have been found in the pet trading industry or simply lost and alone. These don't just take in the Orang-utans, but teacher them like their mother would how to survive alone in the wild when they grow. This means they can be released into the wild and survive.
The Charities also try to buy as much of the forested land as possible to protect it from the deforestation and give somewhere for the Orang-utans to live when ready. Although Orang-utans reproduce very slowly, those kept in semi wild conditions, so given food supplements, reproduce considerably faster, which means the population has a higher chance of growing.
Another helping hand is the education of local communities about the importance of conservation and desperate situation of the Orang-utans. Many locals don't know the scale of the problem because no-one has told them. The local communities are also provided with jobs within the conservation area, so they don't need to poach orang-utans, work for nothing for plantations or clear acres of land for farming.
YOU CAN GET INVOLVED!
There are loads of ways to help, so get involved because there’s no point being sympathetic for their cause, and not doing something about it!
You could raise money for a recognised charity which aims to save the orang-utans.
You could adopt an Orang-utan.
You could become a volunteer and go on a placement at the heart of the problem.
You can sign petitions to let Governments know we are not impressed.
LINKS!
If you want more info on the Orang-utans situation and how to make a difference go take a look at these websites, but remember to check any charity is registered before sending money!
