Orang Utan- the red ape that are cute and adorable and one of the most threatened species in Borneo. Without the help of the public, these Orang utans will soon go extinct and orang utans are only found in Borneo and Sumatra.
Photos taken from Dr Sen Nathan, Chief Veterinarian from Sabah Wildlife Department
Last Friday my coursemates and I were given a talk by an outstanding lady who is an expert in Orang Utan called
Dr. Isabelle. She comes from France Here are a few interesting facts i got from her really interesting talk that even i knew nothing about:
1) did you know
orang utans can t swim.Unlike the proboscis monkeys, Orang utans are afraid of water and will drown if placed in water.
2) A survey done in Major shopping malls in Sabah Shows that
most people know almost nothing about Orang Utan.Apparently a lot of people don t even know how an Orang utan looks like..
3) the
presence of a big developed male orang utan with the side cheeks inhibits the development of other males to form the side cheeks as well.In the zoo it was observed that the male orang utan only developed his side cheek when the big developed male orang utan moved away to another zoo.
4)
People should not keep baby orang utans as pets as these pets will end up in the zoo in cages for the rest of his life. That is no way for an orang utan to live.
Caged orangutans ( for lng periods) gets depressed and most of the times go mad. Why they end up in zoos? This is because orang utans are naturally very Curious and looks to make havoc in your house.They like to dismantle stuff as they are really curious.So if you keep an orang utan as a pet it will one day cause tons of mess and havoc in your house till you have to give it away.
5) Baby orang utans cling to their mothers very tightly because they live high up and the mother will swing with the baby clinging to her.If the baby does not have clinging ability, he will fall to the ground and die. Therefore when
we humans hold a baby orang utan he will hug us very tightly and make our heart melt.6) In Sepilok rehabilitation centre, there is an
adoption process for the orang utans where people can adopt the orang utan by paying for his welfare so he/she wont get extinct.
7)
Orang Utans love to eat palm oil shoots as they are delicious. Some palm oil plantation owners get so angry they shoot at the orang utans causing orang utans to fear us. can we blame them for eating when huge areas of their natural habitat have been cleared and then planted with delicious palm oil shoots.
8) Although orang utans some of them are really huge.it is very hard to see an orang utan as they can hide very easily and can sense our presence.Therefore
to see if there are orang utan present you must see the orang utan nest.9) Orang utans are able to live in secondary forests like Deramakot( Forest Management Units for sustainable timber logging). however the behaviour of the orang utan will change showing that orang utans are able to adapt to its environment. Apparently secondary forests have more food for the orang utans compared to the primary forests as the fruiting cycle of the trees are faster. The male territoriality also adapt to its surroundings.
10) Orang utans have the ability to heal very fast especially for broken bones injury... i Do have some sad news..apparently some people in the Crocker Range eats the orang utan for medicine..i was so sad when i heard that..
I never knew People eat Orang utan..How can they bear..Orang utans are so adorable PLUS Theyre getting Extinct!!
The major threats to the Orang Utan are
Genetic problems and
Human orang utan conflicts ( agriculture especially).
Genetic problems are caused by the
inbreeding effects due to habitat fragmentation. Inbreeding means incest among the orang utans due to small population size. The number of alleles also decrease. Most of this habitat islands have about 5o individuals and scientist estimate this population due to inbreeding that leads to loads of genetic caused diseases will cause this orang utans to become extinct in 5o -100 years. Only about 4 places in Sabah has a population size of more that 250.
One of the methods to overcome this is translocation from one habitat to another but Translocation is not as simple as it seems. Dr Isabelle used this example, Imagine if someone comes and kidnaps you ( say you come from Sabah) and places you in New York, United States of America, with no friends, no knowledge of the area, no money, nothing..so HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SURVIVE.For the ORANG UTAN monkey its the same thing..For the orang utan from small was raised to understand the area where he/she lives in, the places to avoid, where to find food, where to stay when there is a storm..motherly advice that would save him in times of peril..so if you translocate an orang utan from one place to another,IT WILL BE TRAUMATISING.
Currently
in SAbah we have about 11000 orang utans and im proud to say that many people around the world and within Sabah are very concerned about orang utan but the awareness now is not enough. A lot of people still need to understand more and take action about the orang utan so we can save them from becoming extinct. we humans really have to find a balance between economic gain( which is important for our country) and our environment and nature conservation( cos withouth forest and wildlife we humans will not survive as well- even now due to heavy logging in Peninsular malaysia now they have water problems..I hope sabah never reaches that stage..its really worrying)
I hope i have helped to increase your knowledge about the orang utans and i had fun writing this blog as well. All the best. Stay tune for my next blog edition.
