ORANGUTANS - ENVIRONMENT
News: 4
Chennai police personnel suspended for aiding orangutan smugglers
What's in the news?
● Recently,
four police personnel in Chennai were suspended for aiding orangutan smugglers.
Orangutans:
● Orangutans
are among the most expensive animals in
the illegal pet trade.
Habitat:
● Orangutans
means "Man of the forest"
in the Malay language.
● Orangutans
are great apes native to the rainforests
of Indonesia and Malaysia.
● They
are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra.
Characteristics:
● They
have proportionally long arms and short legs.
● Reddish-brown
hair covering their bodies.
● Bornean
and Sumatran orangutans differ a little in appearance and behavior.
● Sumatran
orangutans have longer facial hair.
Threats:
● Poaching
● Habitat
destruction
● Illegal
pet trade
● Deforestation
due to palm oil cultivation and logging.
IUCN Status:
|
Bornean
orangutan |
Endangered |
|
The Sumatran |
Critically
Endangered |
|
Tapanuli
orangutan - third species of orangutan and no more than 800
individuals. |
Critically
Endangered |