As a logger’s excavator tears down his home, one lone orangutan is caught on film, trying to stop the monstrous machine with its bare hands. After the excavator pushed down a large tree, the primate leaped down the tree’s trunk and tried to halt the machine’s progress with its hands. In the heartbreaking video, which was shared on Facebook by workers from International Animal Rescue (IAR), the great ape attempted to grab the arm of the bulldozer before it slipped and fell off into a stack of trees. He then made an attempt to scramble around the back of the machine so he could climb back to the tree he was defending.
This sad scene was captured in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, as a construction company was demolishing a section of the Sungai Putri Forest, which is the habitat for the critically endangered Bornean Orangutans. Thankfully, the IAR team was able to rescue the primate before he came to any harm. They relocated him to a remote and protected area of the forest. However, the footage shows just how far these indigenous animals are being endangered by humans. And sadly, there’s nothing they can do about it.
The IAR reported:
“This desperate orangutan is frantically seeking refuge from the destructive power of the bulldozer; a machine that has already decimated everything else around him.”
“Despite all the obstacles thrown at them, our team were able to rescue this orangutan and bring him to safety.”
“Unfortunately, scenes like this are becoming more and more frequent in Indonesia. Deforestation has caused the orangutan population to plummet; habitats are destroyed, and orangutans are left to starve and die.”
The Sungai Putri Forest represents one of the last natural habitats for Bornean orangutans, but now the forest is on the verge of complete annihilation as a lot of people and corporations are clearing the forest to expand a palm oil plantation as well as other projects.
In a recent Greenpeace Indonesia investigation, they found that there were at least six ongoing illegal logging settlements near the Sungai Putri Forest, and the activities were being carried out mostly at night.
Bornean orangutans in Indonesia have already seen half their habitats destroyed due to logging activities, since the 1970s. The animals also risk being killed if they were to ever return to the lands after the palm plantations are established.
Karmele Llano Sanchez, program director of IAR in Indonesia, explains:
“Habitat destruction forces orangutans to enter neighboring plantations and farms looking for food, and this frequently leads to conflict with humans.”
“Sungai Putri is home to one of the largest populations in the world, and we are at a critical point for the Bornean orangutan, without forests like this they can’t survive.”
The Indonesian forest is considered one of the few remaining “refuges” for Bornean orangutans, and the survival of this endangered species depends on the foundation of new “wildlife havens” and protecting the existing ones.
Scientists estimate that the Bornean orangutan population has been cut in half over the last 17 years. According to a recent study by the Centre for Conservation of Natural Resources, between 950 and 1200 orangutans call the Sungai Putri Forest their home. And about 84 percent of this area is covered by peatland.
IAR is now operating on the ground to protect the orangutan habitats. They’ve also started a fund, where you can donate to support their efforts to save these indigenous animals.
Please be sure to share the story of their great struggle with your friends and family.
Source: Trendings.net