Orangutan population in the state stabilising, says Len
In the wake of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) report declaring the
Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) as critically endangered, Assistant Minister for Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh said the primate’s population in Sarawak had stabilised at about 2,500.
He added there were three areas in the state – Batang Ai, Sebuyau and Semenggoh – known to have the presence of orangutan had been turned into national parks. Whenever new habitats were identified, the state would declare it as protected areas. To strengthen conservation effort, the government had also collaborated with the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1996 to outline the legal framework and institutional structure to guide the state in managing its wildlife including orangutan.
He also acknowledged the need for more scientific research and financial support.
“We are optimistic that there is a slight increase of orangutan population in the state. A survey carried out with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has shown an increase in the presence of orangutan’s nest. Bear in mind that orangutan have a long reproduction cycle of close to 10 years.
Population growth would take time but we are certain the numbers are improving in Sarawak,” Len Talif told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.He was responding to the latest assessment by IUCN, which listed the Bornean Orangutan as ‘critically endangered’ in its Red List of Threatened Species last week.
According to its findings, the world conservation union projected the Bornean Orangutan population to decrease a further 22 per cent between 2010 and 2025. The species have decreased by more than 60 per cent between 1950 and 2010, which equates to a loss of more than 82 per cent (over 75 years) between 1950 and 2025. IUCN cited two major reasons contributing to the sharp decline as habitat loss due to degradation and hunting.
Touching on orangutan habitat in Sarawak, Len Talif assured there was no risk of habitat loss or degradation, considering that the primate’s population in the state was confined to Batang Ai, Sebuyau and Semenggoh.
“The Batang Ai and Semenggoh national parks were established over 30 years ago, while the Sebuyau National Park was gazetted in 1995. We are concentrating in these three protected areas. I am confident that the population of orangutan is in safe hands,” he said.
On a positive note, he mentioned there was an increase of orangutan’s nest found at the native customary rights (NCR) land within the Batang Ai National Park. For this reason, the government did not allow NCR landowners there to convert their land into oil palm plantations. In return, the state brought in private companies to turn the area into an eco-tourism attraction to generate income for the locals. Len Talif said poaching of orangutan was not an issue in the state as the natives found it a taboo to kill the species. Awareness was also high among the people that orangutan is a protected and endangered animal.
While conservation efforts in the state had paid dividends, he hoped that regions in Kalimantan would step up efforts to address the dwindling population of Bornean Orangutan. According to IUCN’s latest assessment, about 104,700 of the species are estimated to still exist in the forests of Borneo.
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