Orangutans of Indonesia on Brink of Extinction

Don't you just love them!. All orange and furry and cute. Well it won't be long and the only way you will see these animals is in books or in a zoo.

There is however the Bohorok Orang Utan Reserve in Sumatra. This is probably their only safety left in Indonesia except of course for the reserves in Kalimantan. The species of orang utan Indonesia (Pongo Pygmaeus/Abelii) might disappear in the next one or two decades if the Indonesian government failed to give serious attention toward the threat against its habitat.

Besides forest fire and illegal logging the land clearance at the orang-utan's habitat for palm oil plantation is also a serious threat for the habitats existence according to the executive director of the foundation saving for the Borneo's Orangutan, Aldrianto Priadjati said.

He added the opening of the new palm oil plantation so far has to be done by clear cutting toward the trees in the land to be the site for the plantation.

Strong effort from all parties, mainly the legal apparatus and the provincial administration is needed to save the species from the extinction because they have the authority to ban the land clearance for palm oil that threats the habitat of the orang-utan.

He said Asia would be in a great loss if orangutans no longer exists in Indonesia as the species is the only great apes in the continent and there are still many that might be learned from it.

Some 58,000 out of the 65,000 orangutan left in Indonesia are the Kalimantan's orangutan while the other 7,000 are Sumatra's orang-utan.