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View all search resultsBurning Kalimantan forests put orangutans at risk
Fires not only directly affect Bornean orangutans by destroying their habitats, but also potentially put the primates at risk of respiratory health issues and disrupting their reproduction, which may push them further to ward extinction, according to conservationists.
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A joint conservation team comprising representatives of the West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), Gunung Palung National Park management, the Internatioal Animal Rescue Foundation Indonesia (YIARI) and local communities evacuate on Aug. 19 one of three Bornean orangutans found in a community plantation in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan. The orangutans were believed to come from a nearby forest that has been engulfed by wildfire. (Antara/Handout/West Kalimantan BKSDA)
T
he burning forests and peatlands in Kalimantan are threatening the region’s endemic orangutans, prompting conservation groups and authorities to step up rescue efforts from the blaze spreading through their natural habitats.
At least 57,000 hectares of land had been burned across Kalimantan, according to the Forestry Ministry’s record as of late July. Some of the burning forests were homes for the endangered Bornean orangutans, which is already fragmented and reduced by deforestation in the region.
Around 57,350 Bornean orangutans live in forests fragmented by industrial concessions across Kalimantan, with 20 percent of their habitat located within protected forest.
With their homes already fragmented by the forest loss, the fires put the primates at higher risk of not having enough food to survive, forcing them to enter villages and farms that put them into conflict with humans, according to International Animal Rescue (IAR) Indonesia CEO Karmele Llano Sánchez.
One such case took place in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, where IAR Indonesia and local authorities rescued three orangutans on Aug. 19 previously found in a community plantation after fires swept through nearby forest that serves as their home range. The orangutans were translocated to the Gunung Palung National Park in the province.
But the three orangutans were not the only ones affected by the fire, with the rescue group having since saved another individual and continued monitoring several others near burned areas.
“We need to be really cautious and aware that more orangutans might need to be rescued in the weeks or months to come,” Sánchez told The Jakarta Post on Aug. 27.
