The number of endangered orangutans living in forest patches found in oil palm estates in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah fell as much as 30 per cent between 2002 and 2017, but the overall population of the species in the area is stable, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Thursday. Their […]
Tag: Indonesia
How Did a Dead Humpback Whale End Up in the Amazon Rainforest?
When they followed vultures into the rainforest on Marajó Island in Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon River officials with the state health, sanitation and environment department made a surprising discovery. The birds were feeding on the carcass of a 10-ton, 26-foot-long humpback whale calf. The calf, about a year old, was in an […]
Ground-feeding birds in Southeast Asia may be going extinct outside protected areas
Nature reserves in large parts of Southeast Asia may be the last strongholds for charismatic ground-feeding birds such as quails, partridges and pheasants, together called galliforms, according to a recent study in Conservation Letters. Researchers estimate that five species of galliforms no longer survive outside protected areas in Sundaland, a region comprising the Malay Peninsula […]
The long journey to saving the Sumatran rhino, via Borneo (commentary)
In 1982, an orangutan researcher working in Indonesian Borneo wrote to a colleague at the biology department at the National University in Jakarta. He told of meeting a traditional-medicine trader at the market in Pangkalan Bun, a city in Central Kalimantan province. “A whole Sumatran rhino head is immersed in coconut oil in a basin,” […]
Christmas ad conundrum: Is a palm oil boycott the way to save apes?
A Christmas advertisement deemed too political to air in the U.K. but that has been viewed more than 70 million times online has rekindled the debate about how to save orangutans from going extinct: should consumers boycott products containing palm oil? In one corner is the British supermarket chain Iceland, which earlier this year announced […]
Another Dead Whale Found With Over 1,000 Pieces of Plastic in its Stomach
In another tragedy for marine mammals who are being impacted by trash, a dead sperm whale was found in Indonesia with more than 1,000 pieces of plastic in its stomach. According to the New York Times, the whale, who washed up on Wakatobi National Park,was too decomposed for officials to determine the exact cause of […]
Indonesia’s Aceh sees harshest penalty yet for a wildlife crime
A court in Indonesia’s Aceh province has sentenced two men to four years behind bars for attempting to sell a tiger skin, in the toughest ever penalty handed down for a wildlife crime there. Sarkawi Bin Warigo, 41, and Sabaruddin Bin M. Yusak, 45, were arrested last July. During the trial, they refused to be […]
Inside Asia’s Forests of Hope: A Photo Essay
Most people, when they retire, turn to a life of leisure. Not Bjorn Olesen. Following his retirement, he became a full-time conservation photographer. Most recently, he, along with wife Fanny Lai, travelled to eight forests in eight countries for their new book ‘Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope’. Bjorn talks about what […]
