Borneo's orangutans in 'alarming' decline: study
The orangutan population on the island of Borneo has shrunk by a quarter in the last decade, researchers said Friday, urging a rethink of strategies to protect the critically-endangered great ape. Borneo's orangutans are under threat from farming, climate change, and being hunted for food [Credit: AFP/Bay Ismoyo] The first-ever analysis of long-term orangutan population trends revealed a worrying decline, they said. An international team of researchers used a combination of helicopter and ground surveys, interviews with local communities, and modelling techniques to draw a picture of change over the past ten years. Previous counts have largely relied on estimations based on ground and aerial surveys of orangutan nests. Some suggested that Bornean orangutan numbers were in fact increasing. The new findings, the team said in a statement, are "a wake-up call for the orangutan conservation community and the Indonesian and Malaysian governments who have committed to saving the spe