8/12/2019 Essay-What is the Future of Orang-utans

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What is the future of orang-utans?

The orang-utan is a species of monkey with roots from Indonesia and Malaysia. The meaning of

this word orang-utan is “person of the forest” because it is derived from Indonesian and Malay words

such as orang meaning person and utan meaning forest. Nowadays, this animal is found just in the

tropical rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. According to Pongo, there are only two mainspecies of this type of monkey which have survived. These are the Bornean orang-utan named Pango

pygmaeus and the Sumatra orang-utan named Pongo abelii . Both orang-utan species are considered to

be endangered. The reason why orang-utans are endangered can be summarised in two words: habitat

loss.

Several researches have concluded that there are some differences between the orang-utan andother great apes such as the chimpanzee or the gorilla. The orang-utan is considered the biggestarboreal animal and it has longer arms than other great apes. Likewise, its hair is typically reddish-

brown instead of brown or black. In general, a male has distinctive pillow cheeks and gives off specific

sounds that attract females or cast out enemies. Fruits represent the most essential food of orang-utans.However, they eat tree bark, honey, insects and sometimes bird eggs. They are considered the mostintelligent of monkeys and are able to use a variety of sophisticated tools for building their own nestsfrom branches and foliage every evening.

First let us consider at what major things can lead to the loss of orang-utans. The abovediscussion has deduced that an orang-utan lives in the tropical rainforests and is an herbivore because itusually feeds on plants and eats fruits from the forest. As forest dwelling primates, an orang-utan isentirely dependent on the forest for their survival. Hence, the deforestation over the last few decadesrepresents a primary and fundamental factor that has led to the devastation of orang-utans. Deforestedareas have been transformed into cropland and the agriculture has greatly expanded. For example, palm

plantations have taken over prime orang-utan habitat. At present, a large numbers of orang-utans liveoutside of protected areas in rainforests. Unfortunately, the illegal deforestation continues at rampantspeed on a large industrial scale. Thus, the future of orang-utans is bleak.

Another factor as devastating as deforestification is represented by rainforest wildfires. Between1997 and 1998, one third of the orang-utan population were killed in fires. A large number of forestfires was caused due to the climate change of more frequent severe droughts occurred in a short time.Therefore, the number of orang-utans decreased drastically in these fires and the conservative

prediction of their future status are likely.The orang-utan poaching supplements the two factors outlined above. Many orang-utans were

killed by the palm plantation farmers of for bush meat and traditional medicines. A great deal ofresearch has been conducted into poaching of orang-utans. The most recent research shows that inseveral areas poachers have exterminated orang-utans completely. Moreover, scientists esteem thatorang-utans will wipe out soon.

Taking into account of all these factors, I concluded that orang-utans are obviously endangered.Therefore, in my opinion, all these shortcomings can be reduced by strict laws from nationalgovernments that protect endangered orang-utans and conserve the wildlife parks.