Antara 25 Jul 10;
Palangkaraya (ANTARA News) - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia for Central Kalimantan has predicted that there were about 50 thousand orangutans in Kalimantan.
WWF Coordinator for Central Kalimantan Adventus Panda said on Sunday that the population of orangutans in Kalimantan scattered in Kalimantan provinces but about 7,000-9,000 of them were found in the Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan.
He said that the number of orangutan in the Sebangau park was estimated based on a survey conducted sometime ago. The survey took notes on the number of homes of orangutans on the trees in the park.
Panda said that the population of orangutans in Sebangau park also under a threat due to illegal logging that caused disturbance to their habitat.
Besides that, forest fires that had continued to take place in the last several years also posed a serious threat to the existence of orangutans in Central Kalimantan.
He said that among the regions where of orangutan`s population was found in Kalimantan included the northern part up to the Malaysian state of Sabah borders and the Central Kalimantan region to the western borders with the Malaysian state of Serawak.
Earlier, Head of the Nature Conservation and Preservation Agency (BKSDA) for Central Kalimantan, Mega Haryanto said that the BKSDA had released 1,000 orangutans from the rehabilitation center to their free wild habitat.
Most of the orangutans which were released had undergone rehabilitation in the Reintroduction Nyaru Menteng project and the Tanjung Puting National Park (TNTP).
The orangutans were taken from the catches of local community and companies. They were released after undergoing rehabilitation in the two locations in Central Kalimantan. (*)
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