Orangutans, 3000 die every year

With only 50, 000 left it’s just 17 year until extinction. They have been around for about 10,000 years and up until about 20 years ago there was approximately 500,000 orangutans living in an area from Southeast Asia to Southern China. “We” directly or indirectly killed off 90% of the population due to, you guessed it, deforestation and other human activities.  Now the remaining population lives in Borneo. 

Orangutans share 96.7% of our genes and are smart enough to use tools and teach learned behaviors to their offspring and other Orangutans.  They are so human like It feels like loosing a member of our immediate family.  Just to give you some specific examples the following are some homo sapiens characteristics that the Orangutans exhibit.  They can make rain hats and leakproof roofs out of a leaf found in their natural habitat.  Two different Orangutans learned 30-40 sign language signs both in captivity and in the open wilderness.  Zoo Atlanta has a touch screen computer monitor where the orangutans play computer games.  And finally a 2008 study showed that orangutans are the first non-human species documented to use 'calculated reciprocity' which involves weighing the costs and benefits of gift exchanges and keeping track of these over time.

But are their lives worth more than deforestation?  We apparently decided they are not.  Logging, mining, settlements and road construction take precedent over these extraordinary animals, second to none to humans in intelligence. Some might argue that in the case of intelligence relative to environmental issues Orangutans might even surpass humans.

Indonesia, which includes Borneo, loses 4.5 million acres of forest every year due to deforestation. The Nature Conservancy is currently working with our Federal Government and local governments in Indonesia to stop illegal logging and protecting Orangutan habitats but the situation is dire. A previously unknown Orangutan nest was discovered that could could possibly add some needed numbers to the dwindling population but they still are a very endangered species.

Carolyn Enquist, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy the excellent conservation organization mentioned above, studies the concept of adaptation for plant and animal populations who are effected by effects of global warming and processes that cause global warming. Unfortunately for some plants and animals global warming has already caused permanent damage, partial and/or complete extinction. Lets hope its not too late to save the remaining Orangutans and possibly help them increase their population.