Dear MEL Topic Readers,
A battle to save Indonesia's orangutans
The orangutans are species of great apes
native to Indonesia and Malaysia but they are now only found in the rainforests
of Borneo and Sumatra. As they live in the trees and eat fruits mostly, forests
are their natural habitat. There used to be nearly 300,000 orangutans in the wild,
but the most recent estimate says there are only around 100,000 of them and the
number is rapidly decreasing. Indeed, they are one of the most critically
endangered species.
Despite the Indonesian government’s attempt
to protect the wild forests in the area where the remaining endangered species
inhabit, development projects haven’t been ceased yet. The investors claim that
they had put so much money already, and people want jobs, too. Local farmers in
the area also want to use the land for their living.
The population of Indonesia is 267 million for
now and is going to add another 100 million in the next decade while the population
of wild orangutans is expected to be halved in the same period.
Though Orangutans are among the most
intelligent primates, they don’t seem to be able to figure out how to cope with
the intrusion by other primates.
Enjoy reading the article and think when humans
learn to balance economy and ecology.
No comments:
Post a Comment