Why are Orangutans threatened?
There are two major reasons why the Orangutans are threatened.
Habitat loss and hunting and illegal trade are the main reasons why they are threatened and endangered.
How many currently remain?
In Sumatra, there are approximately 5,000-7,000 remaining and around 10,000-20,000 remaining in Borneo.
Altogether, there is about 25,000-27,000 currently remaining today.
Human Impacts:
Habitat loss:
Habitat damage and deforestation is the major threat to Orangutans. Large territories of (rain) forests have been cleared though legal and illegal logging, oil palm, agriculture, forest conservation and even mining companies. Recently, more than 50% of Orangutans have been found outside of secure areas.
Hunting and illegal trade:
Since Orangutans are big and slow, they are an easy target for hunters. They are hunted for food in some regions or for ‘revenge’ when they enter agricultural areas and eat the crops.
Info graphics:
Source: blog.ucsusa.org (Graph below) Source: ge09d-geography-2010.wikispaces.com (Graph Below)
As you can see in the below info graphic, As you can see in the above graph, in the year 1906, there were approximately
it shows the dispersal of Orangutans by land use. 230,000 Orangutans.Unfortunately, as the years went on, the numbers drastically
Over three quarters of this species live outside of these protected regions. declined and in 2006 there only about 55,000-60,000 & now in 2015, there are barely
27,000 remaining.
Distribution of Bornean Orangutans by Land-use type Decline in Orangutan numbers