Loss Of South Asian Forests Could Lead To Earth’s First Ape Extinction

Orangutans could be the first great apes to go extinct, a new study warns, as illegal logging and the growth of palm oil plantations are depleting their numbers on the only two islands where they still live in the wild. According to the study by the U.S.-based Great Ape Trust, in the past four years alone, orangutan populations have declined by 10 percent on Sumatra, to 6,600 animals, and by 14 percent on Borneo, to 50,000 animals. Sumatra is part of Indonesia, which shares Borneo with Malaysia and Brunei. Today, orangutan populations are at about 10 percent of historic levels. Indonesia has launched an initiative to save the apes and is expected to protect extensive tracts of forest under any U.N. climate agreement that would go into effect in 2012. But as one of the world’s top producers of palm oil, the country also has pressed for the expansion of plantations.