International
Animal Rescue (IAR) releases dramatic footage showing rescue of starving
orangutans
April 2013. International Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia
has released dramatic footage showing how they rescued four starving orangutans
from an oil palm concession in Borneo after
their forest homes were bulldozed by a company belonging to the Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
IAR is now
urging the company, Bumitama Gunajaya Agro (BGA) to halt any further land
clearing because it is believed that there are other orangutans trapped inside
the concession that will die if they are not relocated.
Adi Irawan,
Programme Director of IAR Indonesia, said: "We know there are more
orangutans isolated in small patches of forest within this plantation along
with other species of protected wildlife such as proboscis monkeys. All the
animals in this plantation are under threat and therefore this company should
stop all land clearing immediately, carry out habitat assessments and develop
strategies to protect all the endangered wildlife in their estate."
Large
orangutan population
The concession is operated by BGA subsidiary PT Ladang Sawit Mas (LSM) in a forest buffer next toGunung Palung National Park ,
an area that hosts one of the largest populations of Central Bornean Orangutans
(Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in West Kalimantan .
The concession is operated by BGA subsidiary PT Ladang Sawit Mas (LSM) in a forest buffer next to
The footage
shows the IAR team and members of the local forestry department (BKSDA)
capturing the starving orangutans and translocating them to areas where there
is sufficient food for their survival.
Karmele Llano
Sanchez, Executive Director of IAR Indonesia, said: "We were appalled at
the condition of these orangutans. All of them had gone through long periods of
starvation before we rescued them, as the area where they were found, since the
company had cleared most of the forest, was too small to provide them with
sufficient food.
Baby
disappeared
"One of the orangutans had lost her baby, probably killed before the rescue team arrived. More orangutans could die if this company does not take immediate action."
"One of the orangutans had lost her baby, probably killed before the rescue team arrived. More orangutans could die if this company does not take immediate action."
The rescuers
found evidence that the orangutans had been reduced to eating bark and stems
because there was little fruit and few leaves available. As well as the
lactating female whose baby could not be found, a pregnant female and a mother
and baby were successfully tranlocated.
Alan Knight OBE, IAR Chief Executive said: "It is heartbreaking to see the state of these animals: they are weak from hunger and an increasingly desperate search for food. The only positive note is that, on this occasion, rather than chasing them away or killing them, the palm oil company did the right thing in contacting us so that we could move them to a place of safety."
Alan Knight OBE, IAR Chief Executive said: "It is heartbreaking to see the state of these animals: they are weak from hunger and an increasingly desperate search for food. The only positive note is that, on this occasion, rather than chasing them away or killing them, the palm oil company did the right thing in contacting us so that we could move them to a place of safety."
International
Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia
has saved the lives of more than 60 orangutans. The majority are currently
undergoing rehabilitation in IAR's new centre in Sungai Awan, Ketapang, with a
view to eventually being returned to protected areas of forest.
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