Endangerment of orangutans facts for kids
Orangutans are amazing apes that live in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. There are three main types, or species, of orangutan. The Bornean orangutan is the most common and lives on the island of Borneo, in areas like Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Sarawak and Sabah (Malaysia). The Sumatran orangutan and the Tapanuli orangutan both live only on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Sadly, all three of these orangutan species are in great danger. They are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. This means they are very close to disappearing forever.
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Orangutan Numbers Are Shrinking
The number of orangutans has been going down very quickly over the past 60 years. It's hard to know the exact number of orangutans left today. However, experts have made some estimates. There are about 104,000 Bornean orangutans, 14,000 Sumatran orangutans, and only 800 Tapanuli orangutans remaining.
The number of Bornean orangutans has dropped by more than 60% in 60 years. The Sumatran orangutan population has gone down by 80% in the last 75 years. Between 1999 and 2015, over 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost. This shows how serious the situation is for these incredible animals.
Why Orangutans Are in Danger
Losing Their Homes: Deforestation
The biggest reason orangutans are in danger is that they are losing their homes. This is called deforestation. Forests in Sumatra and Borneo are being cut down very fast. People cut down trees to make space for palm oil farms, and to get wood for paper and other products. Much of this logging is against the law.
The palm oil industry has grown a lot in the last 40 years. This means more and more forests are being destroyed. Orangutans need forests to live. They build nests in trees to sleep and find all their food, like fruits, in the trees. When forests are cut down, orangutans lose their homes and food. They also become more visible to humans, which puts them in danger.
Logging started in the 1970s for furniture and other products. Later, the demand for palm oil grew hugely. Palm oil is used in many foods, soaps, and even biodiesel. It is the most used vegetable oil in the world. Indonesia and Malaysia produce most of the world's palm oil. This is because it's cheap to produce there, and the climate is perfect for growing palm trees.
In 1985, about 180,000 hectares of forest were cut down each year in Kalimantan, Borneo. This rate increased even more between the late 1980s and 2000. By 2007, about 1.3 million hectares were being cut down every year. Today, only about half of Borneo's original forest is left. If this continues, even more will be lost. Since orangutans cannot live outside forests, this high rate of deforestation has caused their numbers to drop greatly.
Forest fires also cause deforestation. These fires are often started on purpose by palm oil companies in swampy forests. Orangutans caught in these fires often die. If they survive, they are left without a home or food. They might try to escape, but then they risk being captured or killed by people.
Illegal Hunting: Poaching
Poaching is the illegal hunting of animals. It is the second biggest reason orangutan numbers are falling. Hunters see orangutans as easy targets because they are large and not very fast. Orangutans are killed for many reasons. People hunt them for their meat, or because farmers think they are a threat to their crops.
A study found that 56% of people who killed an orangutan did so to eat it. Other reasons include killing them out of fear or for self-defense. Some orangutans are killed to take their babies to sell. Others are hunted for sport or killed by accident. A survey by National Geographic found that between 750 and 1,790 Bornean orangutans are killed each year in Kalimantan. This is much more than the number of babies born each year.
Poaching is closely linked to deforestation. When forests are cut down, orangutans often go into palm oil farms to find food. This is because they can't find enough food in the shrinking forests. When they enter farms, plantation workers often kill them. Over the years, poaching has become easier with better weapons like poisons and modern guns.
Selling Babies: Illegal Pet Trade
The illegal trade of wildlife is one of the most profitable illegal trades in the world. It is worth billions of dollars each year. Orangutans are among the most expensive animals sold in this trade. Poachers often kill adult female orangutans just to take their babies. They then sell the baby orangutans on the black market.
Hunters might get about $80 to $200 for a baby orangutan. These babies are often sent to places like Jakarta, Indonesia, to be sold as pets to wealthy people. Some are even shipped to Thailand and sold for as much as $55,000.
This illegal pet trade greatly reduces orangutan numbers. For every baby orangutan sold, it is estimated that between 1 and 6 adult orangutans are killed. Also, many of the baby orangutans do not survive the harsh conditions of being kept as pets or during transport.
Protecting Orangutans
Because orangutan numbers have dropped so much, many groups are working to save them. These groups include non-profit organizations and special conservation sites. They have two main goals:
- Helping orangutans that have been abandoned or kept illegally. They teach them how to live in the wild again.
- Protecting forest areas and stopping deforestation where orangutans live.
Studies show that stopping deforestation is much more effective and cheaper than trying to rescue and reintroduce orangutans. It costs much less to protect their homes than to try and fix the problem after the forests are gone.
Other ways to help orangutans include:
- Doing more research and keeping track of orangutan populations.
- Protecting land and water in their habitats.
- Managing the species to help them grow.
- Teaching people about orangutans to raise awareness.
- Creating international laws and controls on trade to protect them.
Some organizations are even working with palm oil companies and local governments. For example, in 2011, a big palm oil producer, Wilmar International, signed an agreement with the Central Kalimantan government and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). This agreement aimed to protect Bornean orangutans. It included checking palm oil farming methods, setting up safe areas for orangutans, moving abandoned orangutans, and training workers on how to deal with orangutans safely.
The World Wild Life (WWL) organization also works with TRAFFIC to stop orangutan trafficking. They try to make governments enforce strict rules. They also rescue trafficked orangutans and release them back into the wild after they are healthy.
Scientists believe that the only way to stop the rapid decline of orangutans is to stop cutting down their forests. They also need strong protection methods for the orangutans that are left. However, because there is such a high demand for palm oil and not enough government funding, it is very hard to prevent orangutans from possibly becoming extinct.
The tropical rainforests of Sumatra, where the Sumatran orangutan and Tapanuli orangutan live, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004. This means they are recognized as very important places that need to be protected.
What Else Is Needed to Save Orangutans?
The IUCN Redlist suggests many more actions are needed to prevent orangutans from disappearing. These include:
- Protecting more areas of their habitat.
- Working on species recovery plans.
- Restoring their habitats and natural processes.
- Protecting their resources and creating stronger laws.
- More research is also needed on orangutan types, population sizes, where they live, and the threats they face. This research can help create better plans to manage and protect them.
