Apes in the News

David L A Gaveau, SergeWich, Justin Epting, Daniel Juhn, Markku Kanninen and Nigel Leader-Williams  

Abstract. Payments for reduced carbon emissions from deforestation (RED) are now attracting attention as a way to halt tropical deforestation. Northern Sumatra comprises an area of 65 000 km² that is both the site of Indonesia's first planned RED initiative, and the stronghold of 92% of remaining Sumatran orangutans. Under current plans, this RED initiative will be implemented in a defined geographic area, essentially a newly established, 7500 km² protected area (PA) comprising mostly upland forest, where guards will be recruited to enforce forest protection. Meanwhile, new roads are currently under construction, while companies are converting lowland forests into oil palm plantations. This case study predicts the effectiveness of RED in reducing deforestation and conserving orangutans for two distinct scenarios: the current plan of implementing RED within the specific boundary of a new upland PA, and an alternative scenario of implementing RED across landscapes outside PAs.

03/10/2009
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Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
October 03, 2009

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1003-hance_colloquium.html

In an unlikely-and perhaps tenuous-alliance, conservationists and the palm oil industry met this week to draw up plans to save Asia's last great ape, the orangutan. As if to underscore the colloquium's importance, delegates on arriving in the Malaysian State of Sabah found the capital covered in a thick and strange fog caused by the burning of rainforests and peat lands in neighboring Kalimantan.

After two days of intensive meetings the colloquium adopted a resolution which included the acquisition of land for creating wildlife buffer zones of at least 100 meters along all major rivers, in addition to corridors for connecting forests. Researchers said such corridors were essential if orangutans were to have a future in Sabah.

03/10/2009
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Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com

 Of the world's two species of orangutan, a great ape that shares 96 percent of man's genetic makeup, the Sumatran orangutan is considerably more endangered than its cousin in Borneo. Today there are believed to be fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans in the wild, a consequence of the wildlife trade, hunting, and accelerating destruction of their native forest habitat by loggers, small-scale farmers, and agribusiness.

Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatra is one of the last strongholds for the species, serving as a refuge among paper pulp concessions and rubber and oil palm plantations. While orangutans are relatively well protected in areas around tourist centers, they are affected by poorly regulated interactions with tourists, which have increased the risk of disease and resulted in high mortality rates among infants near tourist centers like Bukit Lawang. Further, orangutans that range outside the park or live in remote areas or on its margins face conflicts with developers, including loggers, who may or may not know about the existence of the park, and plantation workers, who may kill any orangutans they encounter in the fields.

24/09/2009
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Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
September 16, 2009  http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0916-hance_kalema.html 

How can bringing healthcare to local villagers in Uganda help save the Critically Endangered mountain gorilla? The answer lies in our genetics, says Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, wildlife veterinarian and director of Conservation through Public Health (CTPH).

"Because we share 98.4% genetic material with gorillas we can easily transmit diseases to each other." Therefore, explains Kalema-Zikusoka "our efforts to protect the gorillas will always be undermined by the poor public health of the people who they share a habitat with. In order to effectively improve the health of the gorillas we needed to also improve the health of the people, which will not only directly reduced the health threat to gorillas through improvement of public health practices, but also improved community attitudes toward wildlife conservation."

16/09/2009
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By: Nancy Ariaini

Kapuas Hulu (13/09)- About 300 students from 7 schools in Batang Lupar, Kapuas Hulu District, West Kalimantan, participated in the orangutan campaign organized by WWF-Indonesia West Kalimantan Program Office. Every school sent their students to involve in the 3 day-campaign started from Thursday (10/09) to Saturday (12/09). All seven schools from elementary schools to junior high schools, stayed together to learn more about environmental issues and commemorate the 64th Independence Day of Republic of Indonesia.

The campaign aimed to build awareness of young people on the importance of forest conservation particularly orangutan conservation as an indicator of forest health. It is expected that students will grow in pride for orangutan as endemic species that can only be found in their Borneo (and neighboring island Sumatra) forests.

http://www.wwf.or.id/en/news_facts/highlights/?10400/Kampanye-Konservasi-Orangutan-di-Sungai-Sedik-Kapuas-Hulu

15/09/2009
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On the morning of Sept. 14, trackers at the Karisoke Research Center found legendary silverback Titus dead on his night nest. He was 35, which is quite old for a mountain gorilla male.

"The death of any individual who plays such an important role in his community is a sad occasion.  All who knew Titus will mourn his passing in their own way - whether gorilla or human.  For me it is like losing an old friend - he was the first gorilla I saw when beginning my work as Dian Fossey's research assistant in 1976.   He was a playful two-year-old and I was a newly graduated biologist, so we both had a lot to learn.  But Titus's death from natural causes at 35 is also a triumph for conservation - how wonderful that we humans have been able to leave him the space to flourish and become the most successful silverback on record, then grow old and die surrounded by his family.   The King is dead, yes, but long live the King - his son Kuryama."  Ian Redmond OBE, Ape Alliance Chairman

14/09/2009
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