An ENN article on April 16 quotes American helicopter pilot Buck Randolph, who is playing fire fighter in East Kalimantan, as saying: "Everywhere you go you see wildlife running out of the jungle with nowhere to go. They are getting trapped, sold or killed." In the week prior to the April 16th ENN article, "60 orangutans were saved from the fires while four that ran into a village were killed by villagers."
If villagers don't harm the orang-utans, those in fire areas face starvation. The fires are destroying fig trees that the orang-utans depend on for food. Reportedly, other trees will not fruit for several years because of the effect of fires and smoke.
It's a sad situation that underscores how delicate the ecological balance is for species, particularly large mammals, confined to dwindling habitats. We can perhaps set aside reserves for orang-utans, tigers and other endangered and threatened species, but the environmental effects of El Nino and the man-made fires of 1997 and 1998 show us that those reserves are not large enough.
Orang-utan Information:
Orang Utan Page, extensive list of links.
Visit ENN (Environmental News Network) to keep up on this despressing fire and orang-utan story.
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