Why do people shoot orangutans?

Sumatran, Tapanuli and Bornean orangutans are killed at a high rate for many reasons, the most common being the trade of meat or because farmers believe they are a threat to their crops. A survey conducted by experts in the field reported that orangutans were killed for both conflict and non-conflict related reasons.

1. Is it illegal to kill orangutans?
2. Why do people sell orangutans?
3. Are orangutans killed for meat?
4. What is the problem with orangutans?
5. Why do humans hunt orangutans?
6. Has an orangutan ever killed a human?
7. Is it illegal to own an orangutan?
8. Why do people illegally trade orangutans?
9. Can you domesticate an orangutan?
10. Why is the Sumatran orangutan going extinct?
11. Why do we need orangutans?
12. What is killing the orangutans?
13. What threats are orangutans facing?

Is it illegal to kill orangutans?

International trade in orangutans is forbidden under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and orangutans are protected in Indonesia, where it is illegal to kill, capture, transport or even injure one of the rare apes. And yet, the killings continue.

Why do people sell orangutans?

Several tragic stories and a few lucky cases

Illegal wildlife trade often results in pet orangutans living under unnatural and extreme conditions. Some orangutans are sold to breeding centres in Egypt and Thailand, and others are sold to private and public zoos for entertaining exhibitions for tourists.

Are orangutans killed for meat?

While both species are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the new study deals with only Bornean orangutans living in Kalimantan. ... (See "Up to 2,000 New Orangutans Found on Borneo [2009].")

What is the problem with orangutans?

THREATS TO THE ORANGUTAN. All species of orangutans are critically endangered due to the loss, degradation, and fragmentation of their forest habitat. The threats are illegal logging, oil-palm plantations, forest fires, mining and small-scale shifting cultivation.

Why do humans hunt orangutans?

Sumatran, Tapanuli and Bornean orangutans are killed at a high rate for many reasons, the most common being the trade of meat or because farmers believe they are a threat to their crops. ... The poaching of orangutans is directly related to rates of deforestation.

Has an orangutan ever killed a human?

Reports of wild great ape fatalities have been very limited, and only two have described wild orangutan deaths. We found a wounded juvenile female Bornean orangutan on 7 October 2006 in the Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia, and observed the individual's behavior for 7 days until her death on 13 October 2006.

Is it illegal to own an orangutan?

Keeping an orangutan as a pet has been illegal since 1931 under Indonesian and international law. Orangutans are also protected by international trading laws (CITES), where they are listed as Appendix I, prohibiting all unlicensed trade.

Why do people illegally trade orangutans?

Most of the illegal trade in orangutans is a byproduct of habitat destruction. ... These orangutans, who are usually mothers with dependent offspring, are inevitably attacked, killed, and eaten. Their babies are taken from them and either kept as pets or sold into the illegal animal trade.

Can you domesticate an orangutan?

Although illegal, the keeping of primates as pets is common, and these primates, most often orangutans and gibbons, may be kept by families, in good conditions, in the same way people in western countries keep cats and dogs. ... At this stage, many pet orangutans are killed or kept in confinement.

Why is the Sumatran orangutan going extinct?

The destruction and degradation of the tropical rain forest, particularly lowland forest, in Borneo and Sumatra is the main reason orangutans are threatened with extinction. ... Additionally, the illegal animal trade has been a factor in the decline of wild orangutan populations.

Why do we need orangutans?

They play a vital role in seed dispersal and in maintaining the health of the forest ecosystem, which is important for people and a host of other animals, including tigers, Asian elephants and Sumatran rhinos. So by conserving the orangutan's habitat, we're also benefiting local communities and other species.

What is killing the orangutans?

More than 100,000 Critically Endangered orangutans have been killed in Borneo since 1999, research has revealed. Scientists who carried out a 16-year survey on the island described the figure as "mind-boggling". Deforestation, driven by logging, oil palm, mining and paper mills, continues to be the main culprit.

What threats are orangutans facing?

The primary threat to the orangutan's habitats is deforestation for the benefit of oil palm plantations, mining, and infrastructure. In addition, forest and peat fires degrade the forests further. Over 60 percent of orangutan habitats in Indonesia and Malaysia have been destroyed in the past four decades.