According to Erik Meijaard, a conservation scientist who has been working for almost 30 years in South-East Asia, the world spends $80 million (about £60 million) a year on orangutan conservation. Erik and a number of colleagues are currently trying to determine exactly where this money goes. “We are looking at who is spending it – governments, NGOs, research organisations, sanctuaries, oil and timber companies, where the money comes from and what it is being invested in, and whether we can link that spending to local orangutan population trends,” he tells me during a video call from Brunei, where he lives for much of the year.
Though Erik’s research is unfinished, there’s one thing he can say with certainty. “What is clear is that we are spending all that money but we are still losing orangutans.” In other words, it’s not working.
Orangutans live on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, and are correspondingly separate species. There is also a third species, the Tapanuli orangutan, also found on Sumatra (see p55). Here are the broad-brush figures: in 2016, the IUCN estimated Bornean orangutan numbers at just over 100,000 (a figure forecast to drop to 47,000 by 2025), with about 15.5 million hectares of available habitat. Sumatran orangutans, in contrast, are considerably rarer, with an estimated 14,000 individuals contained within a much smaller area, mainly the Leuser Ecosystem, a 2.6 million hectare swathe (that’s 1.3 times the size of Wales) of rainforest in the island’s north.
Borneo and Sumatra may be very different in terms of the status and conservation of their resident orangutans, but they do have one thing in common: neither are having much success in safeguarding these apes.
Esta historia es de la edición April 2021 de BBC Wildlife.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 2021 de BBC Wildlife.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Flightless birds
Our pick of 10 curious birds that have lost the ability to fly
ALL YOU EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT THE Shoebill
THIS PREHISTORIC-LOOKING BIRD IS affectionately known by some as 'king of the marshes' as it is huge (up to 1.5m tall with a 2.4m wingspan) and resides in the freshwater marshes and swamps of East Africa.
Slime: protector, lubricant and glue
GOO, GUNGE, GUNK... WHILE THERE are many names for the stuff that makes things slippery or sticky, slime isn't a single material but a label for a variety of substances with similar physical properties. Those qualities are desirable to many living things, which is why slime is made by such a wide range of organisms.
How do parrots learn to swear?
THERE ARE FEW THINGS AS GLORIOUSLY entertaining as the effing and blinding of a potty-mouthed parrot.
Why are walruses so chubby?
AS A GENERAL RULE, TERRESTRIAL mammals are furry, while aquatic ones are fat. It doesn't work across the board: sea otters rarely leave the water but have the densest fur of any mammal.
What is the lotus effect?
WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF WATCHING the clock on the wall of a dentist's waiting room, you can always pass a bit of time with a rummage through the bowl of fragrant botanical wonders next to the leaflets about expensive cosmetic work.
Are there any plants in Antarctica?
CONTINENTS DON'T COME ANY MORE inhospitable than Antarctica, where life must contend with the longest, darkest, coldest winters and a year-round blanket of snow and ice.
LANDLORD OF THE WILD
The humble aardvark is seldom praised for its work digging out homes for other animals
CRACK DOWN
As the new Amazon drama Poacher hits our screens, we take a look at the fight to end ivory poaching in India
Wild words
Spending time observing and writing about the natural world can be transformational