Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

monkeywire - [monkeywire] New rare orangutan find in Borneo

monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: josh.greenman AT gmail.com
  • To: "monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org" <monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [monkeywire] New rare orangutan find in Borneo
  • Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:53:12 +0000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7995970.stm

New rare orangutan find in Borneo

A hitherto unknown population of orangutans numbering perhaps 1-2,000 has
been found on the island of Borneo, conservation researchers say.

Members of the reclusive endangered species were found by scientists acting
on tip-offs from local people.

Much of the orangutan's tropical forest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia has
been cut down for timber extraction and to create palm oil plantations.

About 50,000 orangutans are thought to remain in the wild.

"The reclusive red-haired primates were found in a rugged, largely
inaccessible mountainous region," Erik Meijaard, of Nature Conservancy
Indonesia, said.

The journey to the region took 10 hours by car, another five by boat and then
a couple more hours hiking.

The team found more than 200 nests crammed into just a few kilometres and
spotted three wild orangutans in the canopy above them - a mother and her
baby, and a large male who broke off branches to throw at them.

It is even possible, the researchers say, that this could be a kind of
orangutan refugee camp - with several groups moving into the same area
following widespread forest fires.

The team of scientists is now working with local groups to try to protect the
area.

  • [monkeywire] New rare orangutan find in Borneo, josh . greenman, 04/12/2009

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page