Orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has been confirmed as a new species just as its habitat faces imminent threats. The population, estimated at fewer than 800 individuals, inhabits the Batang Toru forest in western Sumatra. A researcher exploring the area in the 1930s wrote of reports of an isolated orangutan population. But it wasn't until biological anthropologist Erik Meijaard, the founder of conservation group Borneo Futures in Jakarta, discovered the paper in the mid-1990s that scientists went looking for the Batang Toru group. Local villagers showed researchers the remains of a female orangutan, and nests in the area confirmed the presence of a population. A male orangutan killed by locals in 2013 provided key evidence: intact tissue and bone. Even as Batang Toru's orangutans are named a new species, the animals' long-term survival is uncertain. Previous population analyses suggest there are fewer than 800 individuals, making it the most endangered of the great apes. Although much of its habitat is protected by the Indonesian government, a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Batang Toru river would flood part of the area and divide the population into two, isolating the groups on either side of the river. "There is no doubt that conservation efforts are needed immediately," Mittermeier says.
Although apes are definitely not my animal of choice, they must still be respected—as all species should be. It would be such a buzzkill to find a new species of orangutan, and then find out they are critically endangered...and the most endangered. However, this is not surprising to me in the least...just think about how many species that have gone extinct within the past 100 years that we have never even known about; there are species that will never be remembered or discovered. Additionally, this is depressing because the small numbers of orangutan will attract hunters and poachers, which will cause HUGE drops in their population. Humans seem to keep messing things up...and at the rate we are going, I do not see much of a change in human behavior. The significance is that we must realize that species go extinct every day...any there is nobody to record their deaths. Luckily, we found this guy...but he is only one of many...
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