image via – youtube.com
Orangutans seem to be coming up a lot lately in social media. Probably because they are unbelievably adorable, but also because they are in need of help often due to their impending extinction. Organizations in Borneo and Sumatra are working hard to care for and protect the rapidly dwindling population of orangutans in Indonesia.
These rehab centers are reaching out to all over the world for support in their efforts to keep the apes alive and thriving. The decline in the species is due completely to human activities. Deforestation due to palm oil harvesting has imposed on the health of orangutans by destroying their habitat.
The apes are also hunted for profitable re-sale and the novelty of consumption. Because orangutans are very bonded to their mothers as babies, their capture is typically achieved by the murder of the protective mother, hence removing two individuals from the population at a time.
The baby orangutan in this video, named Rickina, is being nurtured by the IAR Ketapang Orangutan Rescue Center in Borneo. Rickina was confiscated from a man who claimed her mother was so startled by his presence in the rain forest that she ran away from her baby. Lies. He picked up the baby and in doing so, somehow slashed a gaping wound in her head with his machete.
Sounds like an innocent accident, right? Support orangutan conservation by pledging to Orangutan Outreach via their website: http://redapes.org/adopt
Please Share This With Family and Friends
