Bronte Wells
Orangutans are the world's largest tree-climbing mammals, native to the tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are also the only great apes native to Asia. These reddish apes are vital to the health of the forests in which they live, acting as the world's largest seed dispersers. However, their populations are declining due to various human activities. Deforestation, illegal logging, the expansion of agro-industrial plantations, hunting, and climate change are some of the main threats to orangutan survival. Forest fires, in particular, have had catastrophic impacts on orangutan habitats and populations. The smoke from these fires negatively affects the health and behaviour of orangutans, and the destruction of their forest homes leaves them vulnerable to poaching and the illegal pet trade.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Forest fires | Forest fires are a major threat to orangutans. They can cause direct harm, such as burning their habitat and killing individuals, and indirect harm, such as reducing the availability of fruit. |
| Deforestation | Deforestation is the primary threat to orangutans. It isolates populations, reduces their habitat, and makes them more susceptible to forest fires. |
| Agriculture | The conversion of forests to agricultural land, particularly for palm oil and timber plantations, is a significant driver of deforestation and habitat degradation. |
| Illegal activities | Illegal logging, poaching, and the wildlife trade (including the illegal pet trade) threaten orangutan populations. |
| Climate change | Intensifying drought conditions and more frequent forest fires associated with climate change pose a significant threat to orangutans and their forest habitat. |
| Human activity | Human activities such as road development, mining, and human encroachment contribute to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. |
What You'll Learn
Deforestation
Loss of Habitat
Orangutans, the world's largest tree-dwelling mammals, spend most of their time in the canopies of tropical forests. They are supremely adapted to life in trees, with powerful hands that allow them to swing from branch to branch. However, deforestation is destroying their natural habitat. Between 1970 and 2010, more than 30% of the original Bornean rainforests were cleared, resulting in the loss of about 80% of the orangutans' habitat in just two decades. This destruction is primarily driven by the expansion of agriculture and the establishment of oil palm plantations.
Increased Vulnerability
The loss of their forest habitat forces orangutans out of their natural environment and makes them easy targets for hunters. They become vulnerable to poaching, with mothers killed and their babies sold as pets. Additionally, as their natural food sources diminish, orangutans are pushed to enter gardens or plantations, leading to conflicts with humans who may view them as pests and kill them.
Decline in Biodiversity
Tropical rainforests are among the most species-rich ecosystems on the planet, and deforestation results in a decline in biodiversity. Approximately 80% of all documented species in the world can be found in tropical rainforests, and their destruction has a ripple effect on the global biodiversity.
Climate Change
Trees play a crucial role in absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Deforestation, through logging, burning, and decay, is the second-largest emitter of CO2 after fossil fuel burning, contributing to about 15% of the world's CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. This, in turn, exacerbates climate change, leading to severe floods, temperature rises, and reduced agricultural productivity, further threatening the survival of orangutans and other species.
Social and Environmental Impact
Noise and Light Pollution: Damaging Our Atmosphere
You may want to see also
Fire
Orangutans are an "indicator species", meaning they can be used as a proxy for the health of an ecosystem. Their health and behaviour are noticeably affected by changes in their environment. The effects of fire on orangutans were observed by researchers at the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station in Indonesian Borneo during the 2015 wildfires.
The fires in 2015 were driven by an El Niño climatic cycle, which caused especially dry weather in the region. The natural surface of the forests in Borneo consists of peat, which is highly flammable and allows fires to burn underground for weeks. The 2015 fires burned for nearly two months, and the smoke covered an area of 2,000 by 4,000 kilometres.
The effects of the smoke on the orangutans were observed by researchers who noticed a difference in the males' "long call". The calls sounded "raggedy, a little like humans who smoke a lot". The researchers studied four "flanged" males and found that they travelled less, rested more, and consumed more calories. They also produced more ketone bodies, which are molecules made by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake, indicating that they were burning fat.
The researchers hypothesised that the cause of the fat-burning could be inflammation, as human exposure to particulate matter can cause inflammation in the respiratory tract and throughout the body. The smoke also affected the orangutans' vocalisations, with their voices dropping in pitch and showing more vocal harshness and irregularities. These features of vocal quality have been linked to inflammation, stress, and disease in humans and nonhuman animals.
The effects of the fires lingered long after the smoke cleared, with the orangutans continuing to exhibit changes in behaviour and energy conservation strategies. The haze had starved trees of fresh air and sunlight, leading to a decrease in fruit availability, which is the preferred food of orangutans. This scarcity of fruit caused the orangutans to adopt an energy-conserving strategy, resting more and travelling shorter distances.
The frequent and prolonged exposure to toxic smoke from wildfires poses severe consequences for orangutans and other wildlife, and there is a need to understand the long-term and indirect impacts of these fires on the ecosystem.
Plastic Pollution's Impact on Terrestrial Birds: A Concern?
You may want to see also
Poaching
Orangutans are considered easy targets by hunters due to their large size and lack of speed. They are killed for meat, with a survey reporting that 56% of people who admitted to killing an orangutan did so for this reason. Other reasons for poaching orangutans include being paid to kill, traditional medicine, killing adults to capture infants for the black market, sport hunting, or accidental killing. A national geographic survey revealed that between 750 and 1,790 Bornean orangutans are killed each year in Kalimantan, which outnumbers the annual birth rate.
The poaching of orangutans is directly linked to deforestation and rates of human encroachment into orangutan habitats. As their forest homes are destroyed, orangutans are forced to venture closer to human settlements in search of food, making them more vulnerable to poaching. Extreme weather conditions, such as storms and fires, can also worsen the poaching situation by destroying orangutan habitats and pushing them into closer contact with humans.
The illegal wildlife trade, including the poaching of orangutans, has been linked to zoonotic outbreaks and pandemics, causing millions of human deaths. While laws and international conventions protect orangutans, authorities rarely prosecute, and penalties are mild. It is estimated that four out of five animals captured and transported through the illegal trade will die during transit or within a year of captivity.
Orangutans are also threatened by the bushmeat trade, which further pressures their dwindling populations. Hunting disrupts not only individual orangutan lives but also the entire community's social structure. The loss of adult males can lead to imbalances in mating opportunities, impacting reproductive success and overall health dynamics.
The illegal trade of orangutans as pets is another severe concern, as it often involves the killing of mothers to capture and sell the infants. These orphans often do not survive the conditions they are kept in, especially during transportation to other countries. It is estimated that for every infant sold, between one and six adult orangutans are killed.
Land Pollution: Impact of Mining Activities
You may want to see also
Climate change
Orangutans are the world's largest tree-climbing mammals. Their survival relies on the future of Asia's tropical rainforests. Tropical forests are incredibly carbon-rich, especially the peat swamps in Aceh and Kalimantan where orangutans live. Deforestation and the exploitation of buried organic matter in the form of fossil fuels are increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and changing the climate. Protecting and restoring forests such as the orangutan's peat forest habitat is one of the most effective ways to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased by 46% since 1750. By the end of the century, the average global temperature is projected to rise by 3-5 degrees Celsius. The effects of rising temperatures are already being felt around the world. Longer summers and earlier snowpack melts are increasing wildfires in the American West. Many species are changing the timing of their life histories, life cycles, and migration patterns to deal with seasonal changes.
Indonesia, with its high rate of deforestation, is one of the world's biggest contributors to climate change and one of the countries most adversely affected by it. During El Niño years, dry-season rainfall can be less than half of normal, and severe El Niño years have seen huge fires devastate Indonesia's forests. There is evidence that climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of El Niño southern oscillations, with Indonesia experiencing drought conditions and corresponding forest fires in 1972-73, 1982-83, 1987, 1991-92, 1997-98, 2002, 2006, 2009, and 2014-2015.
The results of these fires have been devastating for orangutans. In 1997 and 1998, forest fires destroyed 4.7 million hectares of Indonesia's tropical forests, and thousands of orangutans likely died as the forests burned. In 2009, fires were detected in the Tripa peat swamps of Aceh in Sumatra, and the three biggest protected areas in Central Kalimantan, which have a combined total of 13,000 orangutans, were all badly damaged by fires.
Intensifying drought conditions and more frequent forest fires are some of the most immediate threats to orangutans and their forest habitat. However, the long-term effects of fires on forest quality and other effects of climate change are also concerning. Studies show that there are fewer species of trees and less fruit after forest fires. Warming temperatures and changes in precipitation and seasonality will likely affect fruiting trees and the seasonal activities of the forests' flora and fauna. A longer, more severe dry season will likely reduce the abundance of fruits. Although orangutans can store fat during periods of low fruit availability, longer periods will force them to rely more heavily on low-quality fallback foods like bark and struggle to maintain their body weight.
Air Pollution's Impact on Canada's Environment and Health
You may want to see also
Illegal gold mining
In Indonesia, gold mining operations have contributed to 10% of the total environmental damage to the nation's forests. The open-pit mining method, used for gold extraction, has turned lush rainforests into barren wastelands. This has resulted in a devastating loss of biodiversity and soil erosion, with sediment runoff turning rivers from transparent blackwater to a muddy brown.
The Martabe gold mine in North Sumatra, Indonesia, owned by the UK-based company Jardine Matheson, has cleared nearly 21.5 acres of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan habitat. The mine's waste has polluted waterways, threatening the livelihoods of rice farmers and fish farmers downstream.
The high profits and low risks associated with illegal gold mining attract organized criminal groups, who exploit loopholes in regulatory frameworks. The transnational nature of this crime and the involvement of sophisticated criminal networks pose significant challenges for law enforcement agencies.
Land Pollution: Impacting Our Lives and Environment
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Pollution affects orangutans in several ways. The destruction of forests, for example, through deforestation, illegal logging, and the expansion of agro-industrial plantations, is the primary threat to orangutans. This leads to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, forcing orangutans to the ground and making them more susceptible to poaching and the illegal pet trade. Additionally, pollution from forest fires and the pulp and paper industry impacts orangutan health and activity levels. Wildfire smoke, for instance, has been shown to negatively affect the condition of orangutans, increasing their rest time and fat catabolism.
Deforestation is the primary threat to orangutans, leading to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. Orangutans are highly adapted to life in trees, and the loss of their forest habitat forces them to the ground, making them more vulnerable to various threats.
The expansion of agro-industrial plantations, particularly palm oil plantations, contributes to habitat loss for orangutans. Large-scale conversion of land for agriculture results in the clearing of vast swaths of forest, destroying the orangutans' natural habitat.
Forest fires produce hazardous smoke that negatively impacts the health and activity levels of orangutans. Wildfire smoke increases rest time and fat catabolism in orangutans and may be linked to an increase in energy expenditure, possibly related to immune response.
The pulp and paper industry is a major driver of forest loss in Indonesia and Malaysia, impacting orangutan populations. The industry has been associated with corruption, environmental impact, and human rights abuses against indigenous forest-dwelling tribes.
