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Zoo upsets redheads
An Australian zoo has dropped an ad campaign offering free visits to people with ginger hair to highlight the plight of orang-utans.
Adelaide Zoo ran advertisements offering "free Zoo entry for all rangas" during the school holidays, reports the Advertiser.
"Ranga" - an abbreviation of orang-utan - is a common nickname in Australia for redheads. An Australian zoo has dropped an ad campaign offering free visits to people with ginger hair to highlight the plight of orang-utans. ... more -
Why do oragutans care about global warming?
Orangutans cannot advocate for themselves yet they are at risk in numerous ways. According to Todd Carmichael's article in the Huffington Post, "30 years ago, the famous naturalist Louis Leaky agreed to send an extraordinary young woman named Birute Galdikas deep into the wilds of Borneo to do the one thing she desired to do more than anything. Galdikas wanted to study and understand the life of the 'elusive red ape' - the Orangutan.
Today Dr. Birute Galdikas is considered one of the foremost experts on Orangutans. To this day she remains in Borneo, huddled in the dense peat swap forests - surrounded by foreign owned palm oil plantations, poachers, illegal loggers and gold miners - a single voice fending off the rapidly developing world and defending the last of these great apes.
I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Galdikas during my recent expedition to the jungles of Borneo and discussing at-length with her the future of this majestic animal, its place on the critically endangered species list, and the effects the events in Borneo are having on climate change.
According to Dr. Gladikas, the extinction of the Orangutan and the dire predictions of global climate change share a very similar root.
In short, the very events that are driving the Orangutan to extinction are the same that threaten our planet's climate. Orangutans cannot advocate for themselves yet they are at risk in numerous ways. According to Todd Carmichael's article in the H... more -
Orangutans are Being Persecuted, Neglected and Violated
WSPA Animal Rescue
Please watch video: https://www.wspa.org.au/campaigns/orangutan_bos/index.a...
There is a place of refuge for these beautiful creatures, but now it too needs saving.
There is something so tragic about a baby orangutan sitting alone on the rainforest floor. Too scared to even move. Her mother nowhere in sight. The tragedy lies in this baby's chance of survival if left without help.
For every orphaned orangutan that lives through such an ordeal, there are on average three mothers and two infants who have perished. It is vital those fortunate enough to survive are given the care they need to one day return to a remote part of the forest where they belong. Safe. Protected. Home.
Run by Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS), the Nyaru Menteng Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre is the largest primate sanctuary in the world - and a lifeline for the many hundreds of orphaned, injured and abused orangutans who call it home.
With ninety per cent of their natural habitat gone, the threats orangutans face now, and in the future, are terrifying.
https://www.wspa.org.au/campaigns/orangutan_bos/index.a...
Machete attacks on orangutans are common and often fatal for the adults, leaving orphaned infants alive and traumatised. Sadly, some are captured and sold into the pet trade experiencing poor care, disease, injury and psychological trauma which all take their toll on these poor creatures. Many can expect a life of beatings, solitude, confinement and malnutrition.
Amidst this suffering there is hope. Last year, you helped save the Nyaru Menteng Sanctuary from imminent closure. We now need your help to keep it open and running so it can continue its life saving work for orphaned and injured orangutans, and teach them the independence they need to one day return to the wild where they rightfully belong.
Without additional funding, the sanctuary still risks closure. Orangutans could be handed over to the local government for a life of confinement with no prospect of release. Caged and uncared for, we could lose an entire orangutan generation. WSPA Animal Rescue Please watch video: https://www.wspa.org.au/campaigns/orangutan_bos/index.asp?ID=A0808E01 ... more -
Orangutan drowns in German zoo
A 10-year-old Orangutan is reported to have drowned in a moat at Hmaburg zoo.
It was apparently trying to reach bread which was thrown to it by a visitor, who ignored the many signs warning against feeding the residents. A 10-year-old Orangutan is reported to have drowned in a moat at Hmaburg zoo. ... more -
Orangutan Drowns in German Zoo
Staff at a Hamburg zoo say one of their orangutans died needlessly after a visitor broke park rules against feeding animals. The animal, they claim, drowned in pursuit of a bread roll that had been lobbed into her enclosure.
An orangutan drowned in a German zoo on Wednesday after she fell into a water basin while trying to fish out a bread roll a visitor had thrown into her enclosure. Zookeepers at the Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg rushed to Leila's aid, but by the time they had pulled her out of the water she was dead. Chief zookeeper Walter Wolters said a visitor was responsible for the drowning. "Leila wanted to get the roll, but instead fell into the water and drowned," he told German news agency DPA.
The orangutan, which was 10 years old, had lived in the Hamburg zoo since birth. Wolters said all the zoo's staff were very upset by Leila's death. "We are especially devastated by her death, because orangutans are a very endangered species and Leila was a valuable breeding animal," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.
The visitor who threw the roll has not yet been identified. The zoo forbids the feeding of animals and has signs up that expressly remind visitors of the ban. Staff are now considering whether to file charges with police. Staff at a Hamburg zoo say one of their orangutans died needlessly after a visitor broke park rules against feeding animals. The anima... more -
Orang-Utans could be the first great ape to become extinct
The orang-utan could be the first great ape to become extinct unless urgent and extraordinary action is taken to protect the species from human encroachment.
A new study has revealed that the orang-utan population in Indonesia and Malaysia has declined at an alarming rate since 2004. In the Central Kalimantan jungle on Borneo, the orang-utan population has fallen from 31,300 in 2004 to 20,000. This means, that orang-utans could be extinct there by 2011.
The main reasons for this development are illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil plantation in the area. Furthermore, orang-utans are hunted for food and trade.
Michelle Desilets, director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK, said: "The rate of decline is increasing, and unless something is done, the wild orang-utan is on a quick spiral towards extinction." The orang-utan could be the first great ape to become extinct unless urgent and extraordinary action is taken to protect the species f... more -
Orangutan Extinction
In the steep mountain jungles on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the rush for environmentally-friendly fuel is endangering the existence of orangutans. Over the past two decades, thousands of acres of tropical rain forests have been converted into palm oil plantations destroying the orangutans' natural habitat. Some UN scientists believe that these plantations could lead to the extinction of the species by 2012. Anna Sussman and Jonathan Jones of www.backpackjournalist.org go to Sumatra to report on the situation.
-- In the steep mountain jungles on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the rush for environmentally-friendly fuel is endangering the exist... more -
Orangutan's big escape, short lived.
Bruno, a 29 year old orangutan, was able to escape from his enclosure in the Los Angeles Zoo.
The ape roamed free for twenty minutes, before being captured by zookeepers.
Instead of trying to escape, he just in an area behind his pen. If I were him, I'd see what the sloths were up to. Bruno, a 29 year old orangutan, was able to escape from his enclosure in the Los Angeles Zoo. ... more -
Swimming orang-utans’ spearfishing exploits amaze the wildlife experts
Orang-utans have confounded naturalists by learning to swim across rivers and to fish with sticks.
Naturalists were shocked to see the apes swim across a river to gain access to some of their favourite fruits at a conservation refuge on Kaja island in Borneo. Orang-utans were previously thought to be non-swimmers. The wildlife experts were equally surprised to see an orang-utan pick up a tree branch and stun a fish before eating it. Other apes introduced to the island were seen trying to spear fish with sticks after watching fishermen using rods. The naturalists also noted that the apes quickly worked out that it was even easier to steal fish from unattended lines used by the humans on the island. Orang-utans have confounded naturalists by learning to swim across rivers and to fish with sticks. ... more -
Orangutan hunts fish with spear
First time someone got a picture of one in their natural habitat.
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My forest's tears
A stunning short film about the destruction of a once beautiful environment in Indonesia, and the ghastly consequences. More at http://www.gekkovoices.com
The English translation of the lyrics, as seen in the subtitles:
Here at one time
orangutans played joyfully
eating fruits and leaves of the trees
swinging between the branches
generation upon generation for thousands of years
Here at one time
the Meranti, Ulin, and Kamper trees
stood sacredly in great forests
wild orchids bloomed and faded
in-synch with the rhythms of the universe
Here at one time
the Dayak with their blowpipes
hunted deer for their dinner
oo… the plentiful fruit and fish
abundant healing leaves
Here at one time
the sun shone brightly
pouring its light on the dense rain forest
chlorophyll turned CO2 to O2
creating fresh, clean air
Nowadays
no rain forest remain
gone are the Dayak and their culture
gone are the orangutans, only a sad story
with its historical garbage is left behind
Nowadays
millions of hectares of dry barren land
the dried roots of the trees remain
and huge holes of acid run-off water
left behind after the coal was sucked dry
Nowadays
the red sun shines
watching officials, businessmen,
and foreign investors greedily cut down the trees
planted and nurtured over thousands of years
Oh, my people … my people
nowadays …
angry Mother Earth sends floods
thousands of innocents lose belongings and lives
while the sinners play golf with their mistresses
Aach … my forest laments
its eyes are swollen
its mouth gasps for breath
Oh ….
you will see when the islands are drowning
the deserts expanding
disasters grow more violent … disasters grow more violent. A stunning short film about the destruction of a once beautiful environment in Indonesia, and the ghastly consequences. More at http:/... more -
Orangutan Mama
The orangutan is on the verge of extinction due to poaching and habitat loss. Now deep in the heart of Borneo orangutans and Dayaks, the local aboriginal people, have come together in a unique program. Dayak women have become surrogate mothers to hundreds of orphaned orangutans.
This is a story of sacrifice and salvation, tragedy and hope as mothers from simple backgrounds join together with international scientists to save the vanishing orangutan. The orangutan is on the verge of extinction due to poaching and habitat loss. Now deep in the heart of Borneo orangutans and Dayaks, t... more -
Humans aren't the only animals that laugh
The basis for laughter may have originated in an ancient primate (Orangutans) ancestral to both humans and modern apes , a study suggests. The basis for laughter may have originated in an ancient primate (Orangutans) ancestral to both humans and modern apes , a study sugge... more
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World's oldest orangutan dies at age 55
Dood! It seems like the closer we get to 2008 the more people are dying. Sadness. Do people not want to ring in the New Year?
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Orangutans
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Orangutans
