Save us please...

Save us please...

They are supposed to be protected animals but in Kalimantan a
baby orangutan is illegally sold for only Rp 50,000 (US$6). When
the young primate reaches the black market in Jakarta, the price
soars to Rp 4 million and rockets to US$25,000 in the United
States.

Such practices have been instrumental in the decline of the
orangutan population in Sumatra and Kalimantan by 80 percent in
the last two decades. Even as its numbers dwindle to dangerous
levels, the animal is still threatened by illegal hunting and
Indonesia's continuing widespread deforestation and corruption.

To preserve the protected animal, the Balikpapan Orangutan
Survival Foundation has been trying to seize baby orangutans from
those who have purchased them. The babies are then returned to
their habitats through a reintroduction program in Samboja, East
Kalimantan.

Text and photos by Tarko Sudiarno