Orang-utan numbers declining sharply as forest makes way for palm oil farms

Orang-utan numbers declining sharply as forest makes way for palm oil farms

By Angus McDowall The Telegraph, 5th July

Orang-utans are in even greater decline than previously thought, with the latest study showing their numbers dropping sharply in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The great apes are in even more danger of extinction than previously thought as their habitats disappear

As their habitat is destroyed for illegal logging and to expand palm oil plantations, scientists now warn that the intelligent, orange-haired mammal could become the first great ape to become extinct.

The study was carried out by a US body, the Great Ape Trust, and will be published in this months' edition of Oryx, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

It found that the number of orang-utans on Sumatra island in Indonesia has fallen by 14 per cent since 2004 to only 6,600 animals. None of the apes were found in Aceh province.

In Malaysia's Borneo island, the largest home of the species, numbers fell by 10 per cent in the same period to 49,600 apes.

Serge Wich, one of the report's authors, described the decline as happening at "an alarming rate" and said: "Unless extraordinary efforts are made soon, it could become the first great ape species to go extinct."

Another body, the Centre for Orang-utan Protection, has warned that orangutans in the central Kalimantan forest of Borneo could disappear entirely as early as 2011.

Partly to blame are the high prices now commanded by biofuels as hydrocarbon energy becomes too expensive - and polluting - to use freely.
Palm oil plantations are growing rapidly in both Malaysia and Indonesia - the only homes of the apes - as farmers struggle to make money.

However, the Indonesian government has said it remains intent on saving the ape, and has announced a plan to protect it during a large United Nations conference last year.