Jakarta, Nov 13: At least 1,000 Orangutans are
estimated to have been killed by fires and land clearing in
Indonesia this year, a wildlife expert said here today.
Willie Smits from the Gibbon Foundation said the fires
that swept Borneo during the dry season and the intensive
drive to create palm oil plantations have either killed the
orangutans or driven them closer to human settlement, where
they are killed as pests.
"A thousand is a minimum estimate," said Smits, a
founder of the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) project that
operates on the Indonesian part of the island.
Trafficking of orangutans also presents a continuing
threat, with animals from Borneo being smuggled to various
parts of the globe, Smits said.
Orangutans are a protected species, the only great apes
living outside of Africa, and can only be found on the islands
of Borneo and Sumatra.
In 2002 a study estimated that just 56,000 orangutans
lived on Borneo and 7,000 in Sumatra.
Only one in three orangutan young are estimated to live,
lessening the long-term chance of survival for the species.
"If they are to survive, we have to deal with this forest
fires and palm oil plantations," Smits said.
The BOS says it rescued 137 injured orangutans in central
Kalimantan region alone during the fire season, and found the
remains of scores of others.
Large parts of Sumatra and Borneo have been set ablaze in
recent months, an ecological disaster caused by illegal land-
clearing fires ahead of the upcoming planting season. Weak
enforcement of the law has allowed the practice to continue.
Bureau Report
