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.

[Nerdanel]

I've read that too. I get so mad!! I just read, too, that the human species has made the natural extermination of species 10 000 times faster! What's happening?

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by Nerdanel
I've read that too. I get so mad!! I just read, too, that the human species has made the natural extermination of species 10 000 times faster! What's happening?

What's happening? The same stuff that's been happening for thousands of years. Humans are opportunistic and if they find an easier way to make their lives better, food more available, or housing more suited for them, they take it.

The extinction of large animals in North America coincides with the expansion of prehistoric man across the continent and the development of technologies to take down big game. Though man is not the only factor (others may include climate change which caused ecosystem changes and increased competition among herbivores) that may have caused the extinction of species on many continents, it no doubt contributed.

There are sites in America where the bones of hundreds of animals that died all at once from falling from cliffs have been found. Archeologist who have studied these sites have concluded that it was the site of a large kill by aboriginal people (the ancestors of Native American). The theory goes that the herds of mastodons, camels and such were herded (perhaps by fire) off a cliff to the rocks below where they either died or were bludgeoned to death. Did one clan of people need so much meat? Most likely not. However, this may have been an easier way to feed a clan than facing one mastodon with a spear.

[Earniel]

And then the urangutan is only one of our "relatives" so we feel closer it. But it's definately not the last kind of animal we'll be missing in a good 20 years. In fact, we can count ourself lucky if they'll last 20 years.

The dispicable bushmeat trade in Africa and Asia is causing some species to have lost over a quarter of their population the last two to three years. The traditional asian medecine that has been on the rise for several years now can't seem to florish without the use of rhino-horn, tiger-parts or beargall.

In some African reserves parkwardens collect kilometers lenght of snares a day. The mountain gorilla in Kongo is suffering mayorly due to hunting an habitat loss, the number of hippo's in several reserves dwindled drastically. Nearly all the tiger-species will be gone in a good 30 year with numbers below 300. Frogspecies have started to decline -in some cases very drastically- world-wide. And no sign of any improvement soon. Anyone know 'lonesome George', the only survivor of a subspecies of the Galapagos giant turtle?

The amount of impounded elephant ivory exceeds by far the entire amount of ivory the living animals are carrying. Personally I find that scary. The African countries are spending lots of money on guarding the warehouses in which all the impounded ivory is kept. We're talking tonnes of ivory here. Even considering weakening the CITES-rules so that those country can sell it legally has sparked poaching into a fulblown wildfire. Personally I would favour the Richard leakey-approach but that's just me.

Overfishing pushed several fish to the brink of extinction and we're not stopping it yet. The white shark, the terror of the seas, has got population drops to 90% in some places due to demand for shark-fin soup. Other sharkspecies as well. And after human habit, many fishers cut of the fins but throw the rest of the still living shark overboard.

And then those japanese factory-whaling boats that kill whales even in the borders of the reserve, on the pretense of scientific research but where the meat ends up into commercial hands anyway. The Norwegians don't even bother with the japanese pretense and hunt whales anyway against worldwide treaties. Even when at some places whalewatching has proven itself more sustainable and still profitable.

I can go on and on about this. All of this is absolutely nothing new but it's not changing anytime soon either. Some people don't know, more don't care and those that do care, can't do a bloody thing about it most of the time. There is a quote that always made my blood run cold that fits here nicely.

There is no survivor, there is no future, there is no form to be recreated in this form again. We are looking upon the uttermost finality which can be written, glimpsing the darkness which will not know another ray of light. We are in touch with the reality of extinction.

[BeardofPants]

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Just about all our relations are endangered and then some. It sucks.

[Ruinel]

I blame demand for these evils. If there wasn't a demand for ivory, then no one would poach the elephants. If there wasn't a demand for shark fins, the sharks would not be butchered. If there wasn't a demand for tiger penis', the tigers would be safe.

Think before you buy.