Orangutan bashing: Indonesian activists attending to an injured Orangutan that was attacked by oil plantation workers residents in Sampit, Central Kalimantan in May.
Credit: Hardi Baktiantoro/AFP
JAKARTA: Workers on Indonesian palm oil plantations are deliberately killing endangered orangutans on Borneo to stop them eating their seedlings.
Hardi Baktiantoro, director of Indonesia's Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), said at least 1,500 orangutans perished in 2006, most as a result of deliberate attacks but also due to their habitat disappearing to make way for palm oil plantations.
"Orangutans have become the victims of torture by plantation workers as they wander and eat palm oil seedlings for survival," Baktiantoro told reporters.
As plantation workers had to pay concession companies for the loss of the seedlings, they had no choice but to pursue the primates, he said.
"Victims of torture"
Video footage screened at a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday showed dead orangutans with severe head wounds allegedly inflicted by workers as well as severely injured animals that were treated by COP and other local rescue teams.
Baktiantoro said "even though this kind of cruelty violates Indonesia's law on biodiversity conservation, no one until now has been arrested for this crime."
The COP urged the Indonesian government to immediately cancel concessions to palm oil companies in a bid to protect the orangutans.
"Central Kalimantan is the final frontier of the orangutan population in Indonesia. If the forest clearing continues, we will soon lose our national treasure," he warned.
Scientists estimate that 34,000 orangutans remain in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo.
Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla has said that the southeast Asian nation plans to be the largest palm oil producer by 2008 amid strong demand from the global food, bio-fuel and chemicals industries.
Logging motive
Indonesia is currently the second largest producer after Malaysia although it has a much larger area for plantations. The two countries account for 85 per cent of world production.
A spokesman for the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association was not available for comment.
Environmentalists say an estimated 16.8 million hectares of forest have been cleared for palm oil plantations in Indonesia, but only 6.3 million hectares have actually been planted with the crop.
They allege permits to open new plantations are more often used as a pretext to clear land and sell the valuable logs.
Plam oil workers killing orangutans
There is nothing "green" about palm oil. These plantations are replacing the precious rain forests of these countries in Asia. This industry is wiping out the habitat of endangered animals who have a right to live there as they are the original inhabitants. The greed for power to replace fossil fuels is actually making global warming worse by taking our natural rainforests and killing other species that the whole eco-system depends on. What is bad for animals is bad ultimately for humans. These animals are intelligent and have indigenous rights to live there. The export of palm oil from all these countries should be BANNED. With rising human populations and the lack of fossil fuels, humans will become more greedy and violent and will continue to rape and kill to get cash for these supposedly "green" fuel alternatives. The only industry here should be sustainable usage of existing trees.
Palm oil workers killing orangutans
I agree with you completely. But after palm oil exports are banned, what do the local people do for a living? Hmmm?
A solution needs to be a complete fix, otherwise problems will just pop up in another form.
sustainable cottage industry
How did they live before the palm oil business? They lived as they always had - through sustainable usage such as rubber harvest and sustenance existence. The lust for money and comfort and power is a form of corruption. Also, people are not an endangered species but the uragutans are!
PALM OIL IS IN FOOD
maybe down the line it could be considered for a bio fuel...but its mostly just in food. This devistation is cause by an ingrediant in chocolate bars etc.
Orangutans or Humans or shall I say Orangutans or "US"?
I agree that this is a bad thing the killing of the Monkey's over there or the Orangutans which is a monkey no doubt. Let me go ahead and get it out of the way.9 I HATE monkey's with a passion simply because they are NASTY!! We really have no real need or use for them other than financial gain in such places as Zoo's or road side parks. This day and time our world is growing more and more dependent upon such products as Palm Oil which has become more relied upon for hundreds and hundreds of food source items the world over,not just in African regions. Im sorry but we need to eat and if it came down to me or the Orangutan I hate it good ole monkey man is gonna bite it.
You can NOT justify the
You can NOT justify the Inhumane killing of these beautiful primates! In 20 years it is predicted that the orangutan will be extinct. What does this mean that palm oil is so important that we must kill our closest relative, the people of the world really must act now and get our priorites right! I know there is nothing I want more and thats for the children of the future to be able to enjoy orangutan's in the wild not just displayed in zoo's around the world! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TODAY!!!!
Choose one of these: 1.
Choose one of these:
1. Attack Iraq: kill human for oil to donate the monkeys; look yourself!
2. Protocol Kyoto or Detroit; look yourself!
3. Soybean oil need 5 times acreage area than palm oil; calculate!
Let's look to ourselves.
Boy Howdy,
You should look at yourself. Take a long, hard one.
choose one of these
answers to questions like these are invalid...the question is invalid, the question is never either or except in the dualistic world of our tiny minds...the rest of the world does not see the answers in this way...things are not black and white.You are deceiving yourself if you believe this. Its what makes you go out and buy another tv or car when the one you have is perfectly ok.
Evolve
I'm sure we own cell phones
Palm oil is in an inumerable amount of products and not going away any time soon. This issue is not black and white. Palm oil is rarely fairly traded, these orangutans are eating these workers livelyhood. It's not black or white, giving the workers viable (monetarily sound) options to avoid killing orangutans is the only option at this point.
Speaking of buying newer and better things, another great ape is being used as bush meat over the mining of coltan in the Congo (not to mention the rampant femecide...which should be considered worse but lets save gorillas first..wtf). Blood phones...look it up. Recycle your old phone...save a gorilla (maybe even a woman).