Save Orang Utan

On February 09 2016 I cover the press conference about smuggling of orang utans that will be released to the wild at Indonesian Ministry of Forestry office in Jakarta. It was three baby orang utans being restored to the wild (Puspa, Moza, and Ujang), they are in good and healthy condition after quarantine at Taman Safari zoo in Cisarua-Bogor. They were saved after smuggling to Thailand, since 2015 around 15 orang utans saved from smuggling in Thailand and Quwait.

The press conference went well, but there is one thing that bothered me : "The Executive at Ministry office", as a person from Borneo Orang Utan Survival Foundation told me they just not helping so much in the process of return back these babies orang utans, many bureaucracy and papers work, that made the NGO work longer than expected, "but what can we say we live in this country and we have to face them under the law of the country", said a person from the NGO. 


Orang-utans are the world's largest tree-climbing mammals,In 2016, the Orangutan Conservancy believes there are only about 45,000 orangutans remaining in Borneo and  Sumatra. Shockingly, the number was about 60,000 as recent as a decade ago. 

Mr. Ian Singleton, Ph.D : Director of Conservation Sumateran Orangutan Conservation programme explained the number of papers and bureaucracy in Indonesia made the process in saving very difficult, beside that number of staff at the conservation for orang utan both in Kalimantan and Sumatera still very little, fixing both of it will help more effective saving orang utans in the wild according to Mr. Ian. Dr. Ir. Jamartin Sihite, CEO of The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation adding that people should aware that orang utans is not a pet, they belong to the wild. He added the trees cutting for giant palm oil plantation have made orang utans habitat got cornered and easier for people to catch them for smuggling. Both of the expert said that saving orang utans is a working together for all of society to prevent them extinct.

What we can do to help them as society? by not buying product from those giant palm oil plantation such as butter, cooking oil, etc will help the companies going for bankrupt which will make them stop cutting the trees more in order to produce more oil from the plantation. 

Orang utans are part of the ecosystem on earth, like any other extinct animal on earth we must save them to make the food chain still in balance, unbalance of food chain will bring us to the chaotic of environment system that we as human who will face the consequent.