New population of Orangutans found in Borneo – as many as 2000

Written by Erik Meijaard of the Nature Conservancy.

Orangutan study comes up trumps
April 2009. Finding a new population of any species is good news in conservation, but finding a hitherto undiscovered population of orangutans is an important event for conservation. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has done just that in the East Kalimantan province of Borneo.

Orangutans are among the rarest primates on Earth. Populations are plummeting under the various pressures on their forest habitats, especially with the destruction of great swathes of their rainforest home. An increasing demand for timber, palm oil, coal and other things desired by the world's growing human population makes life for orangutans very difficult.

Bad news for Orangutans

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TNC scientists had traveled to the heart of a 2-million-acre forest area situated in the rugged Sangkulirang limestone mountains in East Kalimantan Province.

In 2003 The Nature Conservancy organized a major expedition to this region which confirmed that, at least on the western fringes of the area, there were orangutans. But they didn't expect any significant orangutan populations further east.

219 Orangutan nests
However a recent preliminary survey has proved them wrong. Along a six mile of forest transect they found 219 orangutan nests. It is not yet possible to determine the density of Orangutans from this information, but such number generally indicates medium densities of orangutans.

A rapid botanical analysis showed the presence of several orangutan food trees. And because it is known that there are very few people in this area and that the forest remains largely untouched, it is quite likely that this area has a population of several hundred orangutans, possibly as many as two thousand. Out of a total population on Borneo of probably fewer than 50,000 animals, such a find is a significant number.

The next steps are to work with the local governments to protect these crucial orangutan habitats, and to prevent orangutan populations from declining further.

The Nature Conservancy is working closely with Indonesian and international partners, including 18 local NGOs, the Indonesian Orangutan Forum, the USAID-funded Orangutan Conservation Services Program, and the Indonesian government, industries, and local communities to develop and implement more coherent and effective strategies to reverse the rapid decline of orangutans.