Orangutans in wild face extinction if unprotected

NINE-TENTHS of the orangutan population has been lost from Borneo and Sumatra over the past 100 years, wildlife campaigners warned yesterday.

There are now fewer than 30,000 of these great apes in the world, and it is likely they will become extinct in the wild in as little as 20 years if the decline continues, according to the WWF.

Dr Marc Ancrenaz, director of the Kimabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project, who works with WWF and has studied the primates in Sabah since 1998, said: “Orangutans, the only living great apes in Asia, would disappear unless immediate conservation measures are taken.

“There are an estimated 13,000 orangutans remaining in Sabah, northern Borneo, from a population of over 145,000 100 years ago, making this the last stronghold for the animals in Malaysia.”

Orangutans have become endangered due to fragmentation and destruction of their natural habitat.

WWF said this was caused by commercial logging and clearance for oil palm plantations and agriculture.

Almost 80% of all forests in Malaysia have now been logged.

They are also threatened by hunting and poaching for the bush meat and pet trades, and forest fires.

Only 33% of the Sabah orangutan population is in protected areas such as parks or wildlife sanctuaries, leaving the rest vulnerable and unprotected.

WWF is working with governments and other conservation organisations in creating and extending protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries where hunting and logging are prohibited.

WWF has also helped the governments to enforce restrictions on the trade in live animals and orangutan products.

Where live orangutans are recovered from traders, they are often taken to refuges where they can be rehabilitated and eventually released back into the wild.

Stuart Chapman, head of the WWF-UK species programme, said: “Orangutans are especially vulnerable as they have the slowest reproductive cycle of all the great apes, with an average of eight years between births.

“With this vulnerability comes an increased urgency to act.

“Over 60% of orangutans are living outside reserves and this catastrophic decline will continue unless conservation efforts are scaled up to tackle habitat loss and poaching in privately-owned land.”

Actor Brian Capron, best known as Coronation Street serial killer Richard Hillman, is hoping to raise awareness of the plight of the orangutan when he visits endangered orangutans in Borneo for a two-week special on ITV’s This Morning programme.