Sumatran Species Most Endangered

1. The Sumatran orang-utan (Pongo abelii) is the most endangered of the

two orang-utan species, with approximately 7,500 remaining in the wild.

Found only in the northern and western provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia,

the species is fast losing its natural habitat to agriculture and human

settlement.

Although not as endangered as its Sumatran cousin, the habitat of the

Borneo orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) is increasingly fragmented in the

remaining swamp and lowland dipterocarp forests of Central and West

Kalimantan.

2. It is estimated that about one third of Borneo’s orang-utan

populations were lost during the 1997-98 forest fires.

Although some populations live inside protected areas, illegal logging

still takes place within and, therefore, remains a major threat to the

survival of this species.

3. More than 210 mammals, including 44 which are found nowhere else in

the world, live on Borneo. A recent WWF report, “Borneo’s Lost World”,

shows that at least 361 new species have been identified and described on

the island between 1994 and 2004.

They include 260 insects, 50 plants and 30 freshwater fish.

The report suggests that thousands more have not yet been studied,

particularly in the 22 million hectare inner region.