Orangutans are vanishing at alarming rates — humans are to blame.
As INTERNATIONAL ORANGUTAN DAY approaches, it is important we acknowledge our part in the fragility of one of our closest ancestors — the orangutan.
Indonesia is the world leading exporter of palm oil, exporting $15.3B worth of the resource in 2019. Because it can be refined and blended into many different products — soap, chocolate, instant noodles, toothpaste, detergent — palm oil’s versatility makes it very desirable. Today, the world produces 75 million metric tons of palm oil — 25 times the amount of worldwide olive oil production.
But this convenience comes at a devastating cost — to both wildlife and to us.
Large-scale farming efforts have now replaced 27 million hectares of virgin jungle with palm. This dramatic alteration of tropical forests has led to a steep decline in biodiversity and the decline of vital species, like the orangutan.
In a 16-year period, over 150,000 orangutans died, deforestation being the biggest driver behind that toll. Today, we have cleared 75% of the lowland jungle orangutans depend on. If this trajectory continues, experts believe more than 45,000 orangutans will die in the next 35 years, and all could be lost in the next 50.
International Animal Rescue released a video capturing the impacts of deforestation on orangutans. In it, a lone orangutan desperately attempts to fight off a bulldozer. He clings to the machinery before slipping, falling onto a pile of trees that were once his home.
Despite such immense loss, there is still hope — we can save orangutans from extinction. Don’t wait, donate today.
