81 images Created 11 Jun 2018
Tapanuli Orangutans
In November 2017, a third species of orangutan was announced throughout the world. This was a huge scientific discovery that a new great ape species was discovered. The Tapanuli orangutan lives in North Sumatra and is genetically and behaviorally distinct from the other two species. I flew to Sumatra a few month after the announcement to work with the team of researchers and scientists to document this new species and the threats to its future. There are no more than 800 individuals in existence of this newly found species already making it the most endangered of the great apes. The Tapanuli orangutan is distinguished from the other orangutan populations based on morphological and genomic evidence and is endemic to 475 square miles of upland forest in the Batang Toru Ecosystem of Sumatra. The Tapanuli species is believed to have been isolated from other orangutan populations for 10,000-20,000 years. The Indonesian government has come under sharp criticism for allowing Chinese mining companies to enter the Batang Toru ecosystem. They are underway building dams for electricity, logging and destroying vital forest habitats for the Tapanuli orangutans. Sumatran fisherman who depend on the waterways for food will be displaced and possibly forced into the Batang Toru to hunt for food. The Chinese mines and dam project are breaking up this already small forest habitat by chopping the orangutan population in half thus reducing their chances of survival. Small populations are more likely to go extinct than a large one. If you would like to help, please visit our website to support: Sumatra Orangutan Conservation Programme. Copy and paste this link to your web browser: (https://wildfocusexpeditions.com/conservation/sumatran-orangutan-conservation-programme/)
