According to a recent article in Independent.co.uk our orangutans may face extinction within 10 years from now. The article is based on a warning from one of the charity organisations working with conservation of orangutans in Borneo, Indonesia which is together with Sumatra the only place on earth that orangutans still live in the wild.
The orangutan was recently classified as critically endangered and red listed by the IUCN as a result of the sharp decline in population. The growing demand for palm oil is one of the main reasons for the deforestation in Indonesia, which might cause the orangutans extinction within 10 years from now. As the forest disappears, so does the orangutans home, their food and their chance to survive in the wild.
Alan Knight, Chief Executive of the charity International Animal Rescue (IAR), which runs a rescue centre in Borneo, warned the orangutan is now on the “precipice of extinction”.
“If the current destruction of the rainforest continues, then I have absolutely no hope that any orangutans will remain in the wild,” he said.
The picture above shows an emaciated orangutan and her child that was rescued by volunteers from International Animal Rescue.