Afternoon feeding time for orangutans in the quarantine facility of Sumatra Orangutan Conservation Programme, where the animals are brought after being found wounded or kept as pets. In the wild orangutans are inseparable from their mothers for many years, and capture for the pet trade can only happen by killing the protective mothers, which leaves the captured young both isolated and without the training for survival in the wild. SOCP is dedicated to providing a path back to the wild for as many orangutans as possible, and providing the best living conditions for those animals whose wounds and/or life history prevent them from being able to do so. Re-wilding these animals involves providing a place where they can exercise atrophied muscles, learn new skills, and socialise with their own species. Since it was established in 2001, the quarantine center has taken in 350 animals, mostly 3-7 y.o. from the pet trade, and over 280 have been released to the wild in two different forest locations in Sumatra. Currently, there are some 50 orangutans in the center.
Most of these animals end up here due to contact with humans resulting from habitat loss (primarily from the expansion of palm oil plantations into primary forest) and from capture for the pet trade. Loss of habitat and hunting have reduced populations of Sumatran orangutans to 14,000, Sumtran tigers to only 400, Sumatran rhino to 100, and forest elephants to 1400.
- Filename
- STNMTZ_20161209_6040.tif
- Copyright
- George Steinmetz
- Image Size
- 8688x5792 / 144.0MB
- Contained in galleries
- Palm Oil
