100 Places To Remember: Borneo, Indonesia
Geschreven op 8-3-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
The People of the Forest. Orangutans, known as the last great apes of Asia, are an endangered species. The total population in the wild now numbers a mere 40-50,000, half the estimated number just two decades ago. Many of them live in the rainforests of Borneo, about 7,500 in Sumatra.
With arms twice as long as their legs, orangutans are the largest tree-climbing animals on the planet. Rarely seen on the ground, they prefer to move from tree to tree, eating fruit, leaves, bark and insects, and sleeping in nests made from branches and foliage.
Orangutan means person of the forest, from the Malay and Indonesian words orang, meaning person, and hutan, meaning forest. Sharing 96.4% of our human DNA, this animal is one of mans closest relatives and is highly intelligent. Orangutans have been observed using eating tools and fashioning rain hats and leak-proof roofs above their nests.
Borneos rainforest is being stripped of trees. Legal and illegal logging, the building of roads and the transformation of forest into huge palm oil plantations are causing extensive destruction. This is having brutal consequences for the orangutan and other species, such as the endangered Borneo pygmy elephant and the Borneo rhino. Palm oil is a prime export for Indonesia and Malaysia, meeting a booming Western demand for vegetable oil and biofuel.
Global warming is putting further pressure on the orangutan population. Rising temperatures are reducing the abundance of fruit, and increasing the incidence of malaria and the risk of forest fires. With logging and cultivation of land as the main culprits, up to 98% of the natural rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra may be lost by 2022. If drastic action is not taken, the orangutan may be the first of the great apes to die out.
