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Loading...Terrified Orangutans Saved from Hunters (VIDEO)
A startling video shows an orangutan mother and baby being saved in the nick of time from hunters in Borneo earlier this month. A team from a local orangutan orphanage had been searching the area near a palm oil plantation after reports of systematic killing of the apes. The UK Daily Mail quoted primate scientist Dr. Signe Preuschoft, who was on the scene: “Our arrival could not have been more timely. A few minutes later and the orangutans could have been dead. We discovered a gang of young men surrounding them and both victims were clearly petrified. The gang meanwhile were jubilant in anticipation of their rewards for catching and killing the animals.”
Palm oil companies are alleged to offer a bounty for killing the primates, which are considered to be pests. Orangutan skulls are sold internationally, and the illegal pet industry trades in baby orangutans taken from their mothers. WWF estimates some 200 to 500 orangutans from Borneo are sold into the pet trade every year; inevitably, the mother orangutan is killed when the poachers go after the baby.
NOTE: Some time after this was posted on Sunday night, the video has been marked Private and is unviewable. I have contacted Four Paws for an explanation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjk474jS6J8
Here is an informational video about the Samboja orangutan rescue center:
Workers from the nonprofit Four Paws rescued the animals and transported them over rough terrain so that they could be released in a remote area where they would be safer. The animals were tagged and will be monitored to make sure they can adapt to their new surroundings.
The Bornean orangutan’s habitat has been reduced by some 55 percent in the last 20 years, with a similar decline in the apes’ population. WWF estimates there are only about 40,000 Bornean orangutans left; the population is threatened by loss of habitat, as happens when forests are burned to make way for profitable palm oil plantations.
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Tigers, Orangutans, Greenpeace Cheer Mattel in Rainforest Victory
Read more: animal rescue, conservation, deforestation, ecology, environment, hunter, orangutan, palm oil, primate, wildlife
Image: Still from YouTube video via Four Paws, http://www.youtube.com/user/4PFOTEN
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interesting facts! thank you!
Thx for sharing that heartwarming story
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255 comments
+ add your ownPalm Oil BAAAD!!!!!
thanks
The above statement about checking for Palm Oil on every product you want to buy is NOT ENOUGH! I check all labels rigorously, but these companies don't want you to KNOW they are using Palm Oil - so they get away with it simply by listing it as VEGETABLE OIL. Which is a true statement - Palm Oil IS a vegetable oil - but this lulls people into thinking it's OK because we all have Vegetable Oil at home for cooking! So if you want to avoid buying any product containing Palm Oil, you MUST request the company to provide a written statement. It's a lot of hard work, but it's the only way we can find out --- UNLESS we can get legislation to force them to declare on their labels that they are using Palm Oil, because consumers MUST be given a choice when purchasing. Then, if the purchaser wants that product despite its Palm Oil ingredient then, we can only work harder to persuade them to think again. But those who KNOW they don't want it MUST be given the FACTS ON THE LABELS! Palm Oil is an ingredient in THOUSANDS of products worldwide - not only foodstuffs but also cleaning, bathing, shampooing, face creams, children's lotions, etc. Is it possible for people to cut down on purchases of unnecessary products so as to help reduce the demand for Palm Oil?
Great post! Very informative. I'm so glad these animals are getting help.
It's incredible what is happening on the side of Borneo, we feel powerless against the "cavalry" of major producers of palm oil ... Although more and more food manufacturers are turning to other solutions, the forest continues to be stripped to their advantage at the expense of people and wildlife. We really feel like facing the worst kind of thugs who do not hesitate to kill men, animals and forests to ensure the maximum benefit! I wonder if one day it will end ... before it's too late ... !
Ai U, please take the time to make informed opinions. Please research and study more of what animal activism is all about. Zoos are not the answer for animals. In fact, why would humans want to control wildlife? The forests are cut down, for palm oil production, where this is a mono crop. There are probably a zillion various species depending on these forests and once they are gone, the whole eco-system is vulnerable, including humans. I hope you will educate yourself. The sooner the better, for the sake of this planet. BOYCOTT PALM OIL PRODUCTS NOW!!!
I did not know the palm oil industry was doing this What is being done to get the word out better?? what is being done to stop the decimation of animals and forests from hunters and poachers?
Stop wanting to make a pet out of everything!!!!!!!
I had no idea about palm oil til now!!Thanks for the info.
I am very concerned about these so called ANIMALS. They are in a country that does not think it is important to keep a sustainable forest area for them. They also think it is alright to kill and EAT them. So when there is that kind of thinking they are going to be endangered no matter what the rest of the world thinks. Most of us are unimformed of the situation and the intelligentance of these MEN OF THE FOREST anyway. How many people know what the foods are that contain palm oil or would stop buying those products that use palm oil.
So with this in mind is it not better to have them in the ZOOS around the world in order to protect them. How do we who care about them, get people informed of how much they need to have this forest preserved for them. If they are left alone in the wild how are we going to be able to enjoy them. When they are vidioed we see how cute the little ones are it is very easy for someone to say " I want one for a pet." Forgetting that the mother has to be killed in order for this adoption to occure. This is going to be a very sad day when all that are left in the world are in captivity. VERY SAD DAY. It will happen, we are to stupid to realize these facts.
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