Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 4 November 2017

Frizzy-haired, smaller-headed orangutan may be new great ape

By STEPHEN WRIGHT and been classified as critically
ANDI JATMIKO endangered since 2008.
Associated Press Matthew Nowak, one of
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) the study's authors, said the
— A remote population of Tapanuli orangutans live in
frizzy-haired orangutans on three pockets of forest that
the Indonesian island of Su- are separated by non-pro-
matra seems to be a new tected areas.
species of primate, scien- "For the species to be vi-
tists say. able into the future, those
But the purportedly new- three fragments need to
est member of the family be reconnected via forest
tree of advanced animals corridors," he said.
that include humans may Additionally, the authors
not be around much lon- are recommending that
ger. Their numbers are so development plans for the
small, and their habitat so region including a hydro-
fragmented, that they are power plant be stopped by
in danger of going extinct, the government.
say the scientists who stud- "It is imperative that all
ied them. remaining forest be pro-
A study published Thursday tected and that a local
in the journal Current Biol- management body works
ogy said there are no more This undated photo released by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme shows a Ta- to ensure the protection
than 800 of the primates, panuli orangutan with its baby in Batang Toru Ecosystem in Tapanuli, North Sumatra, Indonesia. of the Batang Toru ecosys-
which researchers named Associated Press tem," Novak said.
Pongo tapanuliensis, mak- panzees and bonobos. lation had low levels of Primatologist Russell Mitter- Wiratno, the director gen-
ing it the most endangered Some scientists also classify interbreeding with Suma- meier, head of the primate eral of conservation of
great ape species. humans as great apes but tran orangutans further specialist group at the Inter- natural resources and
The researchers say the others argue for a separate north but that completely national Union for the Con- ecosystems at Indonesia's
population is highly vulner- categorization. ceased 10,000 to 20,000 servation of Nature, called Forestry and Environment
able and its habitat is fac- The research is based on years ago, according to the finding a "remarkable Ministry, told a news confer-
ing further pressure from analysis of the skeleton of the genetic study. discovery" that puts the ence in Jakarta that most
development. an adult male killed in a Aside from genetic evi- onus on the Indonesian of Batang Toru forest was
"If steps are not taken conflict with villagers, a ge- dence and the physical dif- government to ensure the designated as protected in
quickly to reduce current netic study indicating the ferences that include frizzi- species survives. December 2015.
and future threats to con- population's evolutionary er hair and a smaller head, Mittermeier, who was not He said its management
serve every last remaining split from other orangutans other unique characteris- one of the 37 authors of the will be a priority and is a
bit of forest we may see the occurred about 3.4 million tics include diet, restriction study, said he was "very ex- "great challenge."
discovery and extinction of years ago, and analysis of habitat to upland areas cited" by the research. "We are deeply committed
a great ape species within since 2006 of behavioral and the male's long call. Last year, the IUCN classi- to maintaining the survival
our lifetime," they said. and habitat differences. There is no standardized in- fied Bornean orangutans of this species," said Wirat-
It's the first great ape spe- The primates are confined ternational system for rec- as critically endangered no, who uses one name.
cies to be described by to a range of about 1,100 ognition of new species, due to a precipitous popu- The Batang Toru orang-
scientists in nearly 90 years. square kilometers (425 but to be taken seriously a lation decline caused by utan population was found
Previously, science has square miles) in the Batang discovery requires at least destruction of their forest during a field survey by re-
recognized six great ape Toru forest in the Tapanuli publication in a credible habitat for palm oil and searcher Erik Meijaard in
species: Sumatran and Bor- districts of Northern Suma- peer-reviewed scientific pulp wood plantations. Su- 1997 and a research station
nean orangutans, eastern tra. Historically, the popu- journal. matran orangutans have was established in the area
and western gorillas, chim- in 2006.q