‘The toll is huge’: El Niño-driven wildfires overwhelm Indonesia’s orangutan population — SkimNews
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- IUCN primate specialists called for urgent international assistance, warning that habitat containing 52% of the total Bornean orangutan population is affected by the El Niño-amplified fires sweeping Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua
- Yiari, a primate conservation non-profit, has evacuated more than 20 orangutans and other species including pangolins, though one rescued orangutan likely died from smoke inhalation
- Mama Abu, an orangutan mother, and her eight-month-old baby were rescued last month from an oil palm subsidiary estate, with the mother's hands peeling from walking on torched ground and the baby dehydrated and thin
- Indonesia's wildfires damaged an estimated 600,000 hectares in August alone, and Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said the blazes could continue until early November with the rainy season arriving late
- Five endangered gibbon species and 21 Sumatran elephant habitats are also affected, with researchers documenting that heavy smoke causes orangutans to develop ketosis and gibbons to sing less
- The Tuanan orangutan research station in Central Kalimantan and the Rangkong research station in West Kalimantan have been threatened by fires, putting 23 years of long-term data on 2,500 trees at risk
- The IUCN urged that emergency response be followed by re-wetting drained peatland, addressing deforestation, and preventing burned forests from being converted to plantations
Why it matters: The fires compound chronic threats to already endangered species — orangutans, gibbons, and Sumatran elephants — while threatening to erase 23 years of irreplaceable research data at the Tuanan station. If recurring blazes trap Indonesia's peat forests in a permanently degraded state, as researchers warn, the region's biodiversity and the conservation science built on it face compounding long-term losses.
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