An article from Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island Foundation
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It is not just the orang utan that is in danger - worldwide, the other great apes, including the chimpanzee and gorilla, also face extinction if nothing is done to save their habitats.
The orang utan population within the Indonesian island of Sumatra in 1996 was measured at approximately 10,000. Today, they number at less than 6,000. In Borneo, fewer than 15,000 orang utans remain from an estimated 20,000, 12 years ago. These are the last two remaining homes to the orang utan, worldwide.
Almost 80% of their original habitats across South-East Asia, where they live, are now gone as a result of forest fires, natural disasters, land clearing for human development, mining, and illegal poaching. If nothing is done to counteract these devastating effects, experts estimate that the orang utan could become extinct in the wild in as few as 10 years.
One of the pioneers of the on-going mission to restore the world’s orang utan population was Birute Galdikas – a renowned primatologist, conservationist and ethologist who has made it her life-long mission to study the red-haired primates. Galdikas, the late Dianne Fossey (who dedicated her life to saving gorillas) and Jane Goodall (who studied chimpanzees and founded the Jane Goodall Institute), are collectively referred to as ‘Leakey’s Angels’, named after the late archaeologist Louis Leakey, who had worked with all three women.
With your help, researchers at the Orang Utan Island Bukit Merah can help to turn this situation around by playing a crucial role in the global effort to save the orang utan. Click here to find out how you can do your part in our efforts to save them.
The orang utan population within the Indonesian island of Sumatra in 1996 was measured at approximately 10,000. Today, they number at less than 6,000. In Borneo, fewer than 15,000 orang utans remain from an estimated 20,000, 12 years ago. These are the last two remaining homes to the orang utan, worldwide.
Almost 80% of their original habitats across South-East Asia, where they live, are now gone as a result of forest fires, natural disasters, land clearing for human development, mining, and illegal poaching. If nothing is done to counteract these devastating effects, experts estimate that the orang utan could become extinct in the wild in as few as 10 years.
One of the pioneers of the on-going mission to restore the world’s orang utan population was Birute Galdikas – a renowned primatologist, conservationist and ethologist who has made it her life-long mission to study the red-haired primates. Galdikas, the late Dianne Fossey (who dedicated her life to saving gorillas) and Jane Goodall (who studied chimpanzees and founded the Jane Goodall Institute), are collectively referred to as ‘Leakey’s Angels’, named after the late archaeologist Louis Leakey, who had worked with all three women.
With your help, researchers at the Orang Utan Island Bukit Merah can help to turn this situation around by playing a crucial role in the global effort to save the orang utan. Click here to find out how you can do your part in our efforts to save them.
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