Illegal Trade Destroying Sumatran Orangutan Population

A WWF charity study has revealed the survival of Orangutans in Sumatra is under threat due to the lack of law enforcement against their illegal trade in Indonesia. With many of the animals captured for re sale as pets, an estimated 2,000 orang-utans have been confiscated or turned in by private owners in the last three decades, but no more than a handful of people have ever been successfully prosecuted.

In the last 6 years the Sibolangit Animal rehabilitation centre in Sumatra has taken in 142 Sumatran Orangutans, while its predecessor accepted only 30 animals in the 6 years previous. This serves as a true indicator in the rise of these animals being illegally held in Indonesia. 
 
Author of the report, Vincent Nijman, said -

When the first rehabilitation centres were established for orang-utans and later for gibbons it was hoped that with more apes being confiscated, levels of illegal trade would fall. But with hundreds of orang-utans and gibbons present in such centres, and dozens added every year, it is hard to view these numbers as anything other than an indictment against Indonesia’s law enforcement efforts.

Orangutans are generally placed in rehabilitation centres when they become too old and too big, owners themselves do not face any legal consequences. The report recommends that the root causes of trade can be examined and that the laws should be better equipped to help protect Orangutans, Gibbons and Sumatra’s many other wildlife species.

 

Wildlife Trade Officer for WWF-UK, Heather Sohl, said -

Proper enforcement of laws protecting Orangutans is critical in Indonesia. With their population numbers declining, action against this illegal trade has to be made a priority.

 Sumatra’s wildlife is also threatened due to a loss of habitat through deforestation. The WWF is working hard to ensure conservation forests are not converted for agriculture, and to allow local communities the ability to manage their natural resources in a sustainable way.

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