80% of Bornean orangutans live outside protected areas

by Hans Nicholas Jong on 5 September 2017

The finding is part of a new report led by the Indonesian government.

The study confirms that orangutan populations have plunged over the past decade.

It recommends several strategies for protecting the primates, including working with plantation companies to preserve forests within lands they have been licensed to develop.

Four fifths of wild orangutans in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, live outside national parks and other protected areas, according to a new study by the Indonesian government.

The study, called the 2016 Orangutan Population and Habitat Viability Assessment, was led by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Released last month, it is the third of its kind, with the last one done in 2004.

The study confirms that orangutan populations have plummeted as their forest habitats continue to be flattened by the expansion of industry. So too has an illegal pet trade taken its toll on remaining populations.

The study estimates that 57,350 critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) remain in Kalimantan. That’s 13-47 individuals per 100 square kilometers, down from around 45-76 in 2004.

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