Pongo pygmaeus (Hoppius, 1763)
THREATS
Habitat destruction is by far the greatest threat. This is caused by commercial logging, and agricultural clearance for cash-crops, and subsistence farming.15 Huge tracts of forest have been cleared throughout the orang-utan
's range. By the year 2000 it has been estimated that 80% of all forest in Malaysia and Indonesia may have been logged.15 Trade is another major threat to the survival of the orang-utan. Although recorded international trade
declined in the 1970s, it appears to have increased in the last few years. For example, an estimated 1,000 orang-utans may have reached Taiwan for the pet trade in the last three to four years.5 In 1991, the capital of Taiw
an, Taipei, was thought to have more orang-utans per sq mile than the species' native forests.5 It is believed that 5-6 orang-utans die for every one that is traded.5 The animals can fetch US $
6,000-15,000 when sold as pets.1 The trade has also been reported in Kalimantan where both live and dead orang-utans are sold. Orang-utan skulls can fetch up to US $70 in towns.4 A smuggler wa
s recently sentenced in Miami for arranging a shipment in 1990 of six orang-utans (discovered at the Bangkok airport, Thailand) to the former Soviet Union (precise destination unclear).17
In late 1996, the Head Ranger at a nature reserve in Kalimantan in Borneo reported to the BBC Wildlife Magazine that his staff had to deal with seven cases of baby orang-utan smuggling in a period of just a few weeks. Although the international trade in
orang-utans has declined sharply thanks to improved enforcement of import laws by Taiwan, demand for orang-utans as pets, particularly in Indonesia, is still a problem.
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