Orangutan numbers shrinking

Orangutan numbers shrinking

MEDAN, North Sumatra : The population of protected orangutans
in the Leuser Park in Aceh and North Sumatra is dwindling, with
current levels estimated at about 5,000.

The orangutan research center at Ketambe village, Southeast
Aceh regency reported that the number has continued to decrease
by about 1,000 per year since 1994, mainly as a result of
destruction to their habitat.

Asril, a research assistant at the center, told Antara in
Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, that rampant illegal logging
in the Mount Leuser National Park in Aceh posed the most serious
threat to the lives of orangutans in the area.

The influx of hundreds of refugees from the restive areas in
Aceh province into Langkat regency inside the Mount Leuser
National Park has also contributed to the decline.(emf)