Masters of the Jungle, Orangutans

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Orangutans are truly masters of the jungle. They seem to move through the trees with less effort than we move on the ground. Young orangutans hold onto their mother's fur and skin with a strong grip as the pair moves through the jungle. These orangutans were photographed on the island of Borneo.

Female orangutans weigh between 65 and 110 pounds while males weigh from 110 to 200 pounds. Their arms are about 1.5 times as strong as their legs, and adult males are estimated to have the physical strength of about ten normal humans.

Sights like this will vanish from the earth in the near future. Half of all wild orangutans were killed in just 16 years. They now exist only in the few remote patches of native jungle that remain on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, in the countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. The orangutan population in Borneo has plummeted largely due to the creation and expansion of vast oil palm plantations.

More than 80 percent of the species that inhabit tropical rainforests, including orangutans, cannot survive in the monoculture of oil palm plantations. As seen from the air, these plantations spread from horizon to horizon, and native jungles are difficult to find. Fire is the primary means used by palm oil companies to clear the land, and they are responsible for about 80 per cent of the forest fires in Indonesia. In addition, world demand for tropical woods such as luan, teak, and Malaysian maple (often labeled only as "maple") also keeps logging companies busy clear cutting the last and most diverse tropical jungles in the world. Agriculture kills countless orangutans through habitat loss and directly to prevent crop damage. Given the vast destruction it is amazing that orangutans are not already extinct.

There are a few laws meant to protect orangutans in Malaysia and Indonesia but they are seldom enforced. Government corruption runs rampant in both countries, and officials can often be convinced to look the other way when it comes to abuses by wealthy plantation owners. While they claim otherwise, it is obvious that neither government has much interest in preserving rare wildlife like Malayan tigers and orangutans that still exist in their countries.