Man's nearest relative going the way of the dodo<\/p>\n
By William Furney<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There have been increasing reports in the media
\nconcerning the fate of man's nearest relative, the orangutan.
\nMost of the reports center on the demise of the tree-dwelling
\ncreature as forest fires and forest conversion to oil palm
\nplantations continue to eat into its natural habitat.<\/p>\n
Little seems to have been done to correct the fate of the
\nprimate which, by all accounts, is fast heading toward
\nextinction.<\/p>\n
A recently completed survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature
\nhas reportedly caused environmentalists to call for the orangutan
\nto be classified as critically endangered. The report says that
\nthe orangutan population has fallen by about 1,000 per year in
\nSumatra since 1998 due to logging and forest conversion.<\/p>\n
The orangutan population in Sumatra is now estimated at 5,500.<\/p>\n
It is not taking into consideration Kalimantan, the only other
\npart of Indonesia they live in. It is more difficult to estimate
\nthe population there due to the impenetrability of the island of
\nBorneo. Scientists, however, believe that the death rate there is
\nhigher as Borneo was affected by worse forest fires than Sumatra.<\/p>\n
One activity which has not been getting as much coverage in
\nthe reports is the illegal trade in orangutans, which continues
\nto flourish amid tales of corruption.<\/p>\n
\"Critically endangered\" means precious little to the people
\nwho deal in orangutans, or the officials who continue to accept
\nbribes to aid in the passage of the creatures.<\/p>\n
Pramuka bird market in Central Jakarta is one place where
\nyoung orangutans can be found for sale.<\/p>\n
Last weekend there was the usual variety of birds on offer at
\nthis market, including the rare cendrawasih (bird of paradise)
\nfrom Irian Jaya. Delving deeper into the bird market complex
\nreveals monkeys, lizards, bats, bears, snakes and otters for
\nsale.<\/p>\n
If a prospective buyer at the market is deemed by the sellers
\nto be trustworthy and rich enough and expresses an interest in
\nacquiring more exotic and rare animals, there is a slew of
\nsellers who will take you to certain areas in the complex where
\nyou can view the animals.<\/p>\n
When I indicated that I was interested in monkeys and wanted
\nto see what else was on offer, one man approached me and said
\nthat if I kept quiet he would show me the orangutans he had for
\nsale.<\/p>\n
Assuring him of my discretion, I followed him out of the
\nmarket area to his house which was by a canal and opposite a
\nmosque.<\/p>\n
The man told me to wait on a bench outside his house and
\nshortly afterward returned with a six-month-old orangutan which
\nhe said was from Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The animal was clearly distressed and was shaking as the owner
\nplaced its arms round my neck. While continuing to shake and
\nwhimper, the young orangutan urinated over me, much to the
\namusement of those now gathered round. The owner then placed the
\norangutan on the ground, where it held out its arms to be picked
\nup and continued to cry.<\/p>\n
When asked, the owner said he took the orangutan out of
\nKalimantan by bribing local police officers. He said the amount
\nof the bribe depended on the value of the animal, with the lowest
\nbribe being about Rp 200,000.<\/p>\n
The price tag on this orangutan was Rp 4.5 million.<\/p>\n
The owner then brought out a frail-looking two-month-old
\norangutan, which he said was also from Kalimantan and came with
\nthe same price tag.<\/p>\n
When I inquired as to where the mother of this baby was, he
\nlaughed hard and said she was \"already married again\".<\/p>\n
It seems that the nouveau riche here consider it chic and
\nprestigious to own such animals. However, as with young children,
\nthey quickly tire of looking after them and find it difficult to
\ncope with them when they grow bigger.<\/p>\n
Hollywood celebrities have long known the advantages of
\nassociating their names with worthy causes, and the plight of the
\norangutan is no exception. In the PBS television program In the
\nWild, Orangutans with Julia Roberts, the star gets down and dirty
\nas she heads to the jungle and communes with the orangutans of
\nTanjung Puting National Park in West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Roberts meets Birute Galdikas, a woman who lives in Kalimantan
\nand who has devoted her entire life to protecting and studying
\nthe orangutans of Borneo.<\/p>\n
In the West, there are many organizations purportedly acting
\nin the interests of the orangutans, but a trip last year to the
\nrehabilitation center at Tanjung Puting showed that there is
\nlittle being done there to care for these animals. It is also
\nevident that whatever money is being raised back in the West
\nthrough \"Adopt an Orangutan\", campaigns and other efforts is not
\nmaking its way to the centers that are meant to be caring for
\nthese most human-like of animals.<\/p>\n
There are a number of camps at Tanjung Puting and as we stayed
\nfor a few nights at the first one, we observed firsthand what was
\nbeing done for the orangutans: precious little. There was a
\n\"clinic\" at that time with three tiny baby orangutans. But the
\nclinic was filthy and in the mornings the vet would take the
\nanimals out and leave them to forage in the bushes.<\/p>\n
The other staff at the camp seemed altogether indifferent to
\nthe orangutans that were either being rehabilitated therein or
\njust passing by.<\/p>\n
A couple of young orangutans staked out our hut from the
\nmoment we arrived, and whenever there was an opportunity they
\nwould run in and take all our food and cigarettes. If there was
\nany resistance they would bite us. And they bit hard.<\/p>\n
When I asked the Balinese veterinarian why these usually
\ndocile creatures were attacking people, he shrugged and said he
\ndidn't know.<\/p>\n
So, while international organizations are crying out to save
\nthe orangutan, the fact is that little is being, or is likely to
\nbe, done. The fate of the orangutan, it seems, is destined to
\nfollow that of the dodo.<\/p>",
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