Orang-utans in survival battle as Indonesian fires rage

DOZENS of endangered orang-utans have been driven from their jungle habitat because of forest-clearing fires raging across Indonesia, campaigners warned yesterday.

An animal rescue team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Borneo Orang-utan Survival Foundation has already treated more than 40 animals for respiratory problems and burns.

Orang-utan habitat has been destroyed and the animals forced out of the jungle. This means that in their search for food and sanctuary the orang-utans are fleeing into nearby palm oil plantations, where they are attacked by people.

IFAW is in Indonesia to rescue the displaced orang-utans, give them medical treatment and relocate them to safer habitats.

Fewer than 60,000 orang-utans remain in the wild in Indonesia, and IFAW estimates they could face extinction from the wild in 10 years due to habitat destruction.

Annual fires are intentionally set in Indonesia to clear forest land for agriculture before the rainy season begins in November.

This year’s fires are the worst in a decade due to drier than normal conditions.

Peat swamps, which form much of the ground cover in the forest habitats, have been smouldering for weeks and sending a thick pall of smoke across the region. The choking smoke has drifted into neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

Indonesian airports have been closed, and in Kalimantan, drivers have been forced to use their headlights in the daytime due to low visibility.

Indonesia has the highest number of threatened species of mammals in the world, around 146, according to the World Conservation Union.

Among these is the Asian elephant, of which there is an estimated 50,000 remaining in the wild and 10,000 in captivity.

Their habitat is already in danger because of widespread human encroachment, and the wildfires push the space constraints even further.