Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 28 august 2017

Palm oil kills orangutans in Indonesia peat swamp

By BINSAR BAKKARA Sumatran orangutans
Associated Press since the 1990s. “It really
TRIPA PEAT SWAMP, In- is a last resort, and a re-
donesia (AP) — flection of the dire situa-
It’s been called the tion many of these ani-
orangutan capital of mals are in as a result of
the world, but the great the ongoing destruction
apes in Indonesia’s Tripa of their habitat.”
peat forest on the island The Tripa peat swamp
of Sumatra are under is part of the 2.6 mil-
threat by palm oil plan- lion hectare (6.4 million
tations that have gob- acre) Leuser Ecosystem
bled up thousands of in northern Sumatra,
acres of land to make which is the last place
room for trees that pro- on earth where orang-
duce the most con- utans, tigers, elephants
sumed vegetable oil on and rhinos live together
the planet. in the wild. The entire
Palm oil is found in ev- area is also under threat
erything from cookies from logging, pulp and
and lipstick to paint, paper plantations and
shampoo and instant mining. In 2012, huge
noodles, and Indonesia fires that were inten-
is the world’s top pro- In this Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017 photo, an orangutan sits on the branch of a tree before being res- tionally set to clear the
ducer. As demand soars, cued and relocated from at a swath of destructed forest near a palm oil plantation at Tripa peat land for palm oil ripped
plantations are expand- swamp in Aceh province, Indonesia. through the swamp, kill-
ing. In Tripa, companies Associated Press ing wildlife and blanket-
drain the swamp, releas- Mothers often die pro- the duo. Instead, they endangered Sumatran ing surrounding areas in
ing planet-warming car- tecting their babies, encountered a 50-kilo- orangutans remain. Less a thick haze.
bon into the atmosphere which are taken and gram (110-pound) male than 200 are believed The Indonesian gov-
and clear the forest of its sold as illegal pets. orangutan that was to be living in the Tripa ernment filed a lawsuit
native trees, often set- On Aug. 10, a rescue about 20 years old. He swamp, but it is still one against palm oil firm P.T.
ting illegal fires. team from the Sumatran too was suffering, and of the densest concen- Kallista Alam in 2012 for
This robs orangutans Orangutan Conserva- the team managed to trations of orangutans. illegally burning 1,000
and other endangered tion Program, accompa- tranquilize him and carry The great apes are only hectares (2,470 acres) of
species of their habitats, nied by the Indonesia’s him out of the jungle in a found on two islands, the Tripa swamp. Three
leaving the animals ma- Nature Conservation stretcher net. Sumatra and Borneo, years later, it was or-
rooned on small swaths Agency, hiked into the He was named “Black,” which Indonesia shares dered to pay $26 million
of forest, boxed-in on all Tripa peatlands to look and driven about eight with Malaysia. Both sup- in fines and reparation.
sides by plantations. for a mother and baby hours to an orangutan port separate species. A manager was sen-
They slowly starve be- orangutan that had reintroduction center in “Capturing wild orang- tenced to three years
cause there is no longer been reported in an Jantho, Aceh Besar. He utans is not something in prison. However, the
enough food to sustain area being overtaken by joined about 100 other we like to do. It is diffi- company filed a lawsuit
them or they are fre- oil palms. primates that have been cult, highly stressful and against the government
quently killed by planta- The plan was to sedate released in the jungle risky for all concerned,” in July and so far no fines
tion workers when they and relocate them, but to establish a new wild said the rescue group’s have been paid and
emerge from the jungle when the team arrived, population. Only an es- director, Ian Singleton, no prison time has been
in search of food. there was no sign of timated 6,600 critically who has been studying served.q