This is SAD! Orangutans Face Extinction in 20 Years...

[Dúnedain]

This is so sad! This is ridiculous that we could let this happen, or even come so close to happening. To think of the amount of species that have gone into extinction due to humans is unbelievable. The worst part is that this is all because of ****ing money! When I read stuff that says Orangutan populations have lost over 90% of their population within the past 100 years it absolutely disgusts me



WWF: Orangutans Face Extinction in 20 Years
Mon Jan 12, 7:15 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Orangutans face extinction in as little as 20 years because of logging and poaching, the conservation group WWF-UK said Monday.


Caption: An orangutan holds its baby at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo Island on January 11, 2004. Orangutans face extinction in as little as 20 years because of logging and poaching, the conservation group WWF-UK said on Monday. (Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters)

"Borneo and Sumatra, home to the world's last orangutans, have lost a staggering 91 percent of their populations over the past 100 years," WWF-UK said in a statement.


"There are now fewer than 30,000 orangutans left and it is likely that they will become extinct in the wild in as little as 20 years' time if this decline continues," it added.


Almost 80 percent of the orangutans' forest habitat in Malaysia and Indonesia has been destroyed by commercial logging and clearance for oil-palm plantations.


Hunting and poaching for bush meat and the pet trade are adding to the decline in numbers of the great ape.


The WWF is working to extend sanctuaries where logging and hunting are banned, but 60 percent of orangutans currently live outside the protection of the reserves.


"It will be a long-term effort that will cost millions but we must act now to save orangutans, which are not only a critical part of the food chain but an icon in the region," Francis Sullivan, WWF-UK's Director of Conservation told Reuters.