Dedicated to Conservation
While exact orangutan population counts are always a challenge – various estimates put current counts at between 50,000-65,000 orangutans left in the wild – we do know with certainty that 2,000 to 3,000 orangutans are killed every year.
Orangutans are endemic to rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in the Indonesian Archipelago. Rainforests of the Far East, including Borneo and Sumatra, may be some of the most complex. Borneo and Sumatra support 10% of Indonesia’s known plant species, 12.5% of its mammals, and 17% of its other vertebrates.
In a new paper published in ‘Folia Primatologica’ researchers have discovered a new set of behaviors exhibited by eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes shweinfurthii). This so-called new ‘toolkit’ includes, “four different kinds of tools: a long ant probe, a short probe, a thin wand, and a digging.” The tools seem to have distinct characteristics that correspond to the goal of the …
Our very own board member Dr. Anne Russon started a long-term study in 2010 on the wild Orangutans of Kutai National Park in Indonesian Borneo. Her research has found how weather caused by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle affects behavior, feeding ecology, habitat requirements, and birth intervals. The knowledge gained from this study will allow researchers to better …
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