Apriadi Gunawan for The Jakarta Post
Conservationists in Medan, North Sumatra, have urged the government to take swift action to stop the destruction of orangutans’ habitat, as their population in North Sumatra and Aceh was on the verge of extinction.
ProFauna Indonesia chairman Rosek Nursahid said their habitat had been decimated due to ongoing deforestation in both provinces.
He said the current orangutan population was estimated at around 6,000 with the largest concentrations in West Leuser, East Leuser and Rawa Singkil in Aceh, while a limited number could still be found in the Batang Toru Forest in North Sumatra.
Rosek added that North Sumatra and Aceh were vital for the conservation of orangutans because the Sumatran orangutan was only found in the wild in the two provinces.
“We are concerned that the Aceh and North Sumatra provincial administrations do not care about the orangutans; evident from the increasing amount of deforestation in both provinces, which has become a serious threat to the orangutan population,” Rosek said during a rally recently.
This excerpt from a news article appeared in and is courtesy of The Jakarta Post and can be read in its entirety here.
The photo is courtesy of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP).