Local orangutans face extinction

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Forest fires and illegal hunting have been posing grave threats to orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) living in East Kalimantan's forests, an expert of the Ministry of Forestry said yesterday.

Dr. Willie Smits said the fires have been burning their food, making them weak and vulnerable to poachers.

An official of the Research Center for the Rehabilitation of Orangutans in Semboja, Adi Susilo, said six out of 10 orangutans taken by traders of rare animals die before they are sold.

"Most of them die of illnesses or maybe from injuries sustained while they were being caught," he said.

He said the center is now caring for at least 140 orangutans, which were seized by the authorities from illegal traders or which were turned over by people.

One orangutan expert at the center, Herman Rijksen, said that following the rehabilitation program, the apes are returned to their natural habitat.

The center, he said, has released hundreds of orangutans into the jungles of the Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan and the conservation area at the Mt. Meratus mountain range in Central Kalimantan. About 2,500 orangutans are living in the jungles of East Kalimantan.