International focus on plight of orang-utans

31 October 2007

Zoo joins international focus on plight of orang-utans

Auckland Zoo is inviting people to embrace international Orang utan Caring Week (4 – 10 November) by getting along to the zoo next week to see these incredible primates, and finding out about ways to help save them from extinction.

The week for this critically endangered species, with which we humans share 97 per cent of our genetic make-up, will see the zoo holding orang utan encounters daily at 1.15pm (2pm Tuesday and Thursday). An information booth will be set up near the Just Juice Primate Trail’s main orang utan viewing platform, giving visitors the opportunity to check out displays and speak with staff and volunteers about the key threats to this species’ survival, and orang utan field projects the zoo supports. From Monday to Friday, some lucky visitors attending the daily encounter will also be invited to go behind-the-scenes with keepers to view orang utans up close.

The week will culminate in a special birthday celebration on Saturday 10 November, from 11am to 3pm, for the zoo’s youngest Bornean orang utan, irrepressible male Madju, who is turning two.

Zoo visitors can sign a giant birthday card for Madju, and by purchasing an ASB Kashin Dollar will receive a Just Juice drink, and also go in the draw to win an exclusive behind-the-scenes primate tour. All funds raised from the special dollars will go to the Sumatran Orang utan Conservation Project (SOCP) – a programme supported by the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund since 2002.

Face painting for a gold coin donation to support SOCP will be on offer from 11am to 1pm. Djembe and conga drumming will be performed from 12.30pm throughout the afternoon. The 1.15pm orang utan encounter will incorporate some special presents being given out to Madju, and following the encounter, visitors will be invited to share in a special birthday cake. A Djembe and conga drumming workshop ($50 per person) is also being offered on the Saturday (2pm to 4pm), courtesy of Inner Groove Percussion, with all proceeds to SOCP. To book: phone 09 360 3805.

“The week is a fantastic opportunity to appreciate the orang utan’s unique beauty and intelligence, and at the same time realise that our actions here in New Zealand can affect its survival,” says Auckland Zoo conservation officer, Peter Fraser.

“Every day we purchase products containing palm oil from plantations that are forever replacing the habitat of the orang utan, and hardwood furniture from timber cut down to make way for the palm oil plantations. If we take responsibility for how we spend our money, and demand that suppliers label products so that we are able to make informed choices, we still have a chance to save the orang utan and the abundant biodiversity that coexists with it,” says Mr Fraser.

This year Auckland Zoo is working alongside Frankfurt, Australia and Perth zoos to fund 10 wildlife protection units in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra’s Jambi province – 130,000 ha of protected habitat set up by SOCP. A biodiversity hotspot, the park is also home to the Asian rhino, elephant, Sumatran tiger, and an extremely rich diversity of other fauna and flora. The protection units focus on anti-poaching patrols, illegal logging patrols, education, and animal population surveys.

Notes to the editor:

Orang utans

- are the largest tree-dwelling animals on Earth, and the only great apes of Asia
- only live on two islands – Borneo, and Sumatra
- have the most intense relationship between mother and young of any
non-human mammal
- have the longest birth interval of any mammal. In Borneo they give birth just
once every 8 years, and in Sumatra, some females may give birth only once every 10 years
- females do not breed until they are 17 years old
- genetic makeup is 97 per cent similar to humans.

Sumatran orang utan – conservation status
The Sumatran orang utan is listed as “critically endangered” by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Today, its population numbers less than 7000 animals. Over 90 per cent of orang utan habitat now has been decimated by the growth of palm oil plantations. If the current growth of plantations continues, it is predicted that orang utans will be extinct in the wild in less than 10 years. Deforestation such as this, also affects indigenous people, threatens bio-diversity, and fuels global warming.

The total population of orang utans (Bornean and Sumatran) is estimated to be between 40,000 and 50,000 – half the number than existed 20 years ago. Between 80 – 90 per cent are found in Borneo.

Palm oil
Palm oil is a vegetable oil used in a lot of supermarket items, including cosmetics and bath products. If it is made from a non-destructive source, it’s fine. The problem is when virgin rainforests are cleared for palm oil plantations, destroying natural habitat. There are millions of hectares of land already degraded – land that is suitable for growing palm oil, but selling rainforest timber is a lucrative business.

New Zealanders can use their power as consumers to:

- Insist food companies label their use of palm oil

- Urge supermarkets to stop buying products that contain palm oil from unsustainable sources

- Write letters to government and request they make labelling of palm oil compulsory

- Only buy woods that come from a sustainable resource (NOTE; kwila and teak are two tropical rainforest timbers, often harvested illegally and commonly sold as furniture in New Zealand. Even if legal, they are never sustainably grown – they are wild rainforest trees. Look for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approval when buying timber products (wwwfsc.org)

ABOUT AUCKLAND ZOO

Auckland Zoo is an enterprise of Auckland City Council. It is home to the largest collection of native and exotic wildlife species in New Zealand (over 1300 animals and 179 species) and attracts over half a million visitors annually. It is becoming increasingly well known nationally and internationally through the award-winning television programme, 'The Zoo'.

At the heart of all Auckland Zoo's work and activities is its mission: "to focus the Zoo’s resources to benefit conservation and provide exciting visitor experiences which inspire and empower people to take positive action for wildlife and the environment". Auckland Zoo is a member of both the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks & Aquaria (ARAZPA) and the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums (WAZA).

ENDS

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