The rainforests that once carpeted Indonesia’s Sumatra Island are among the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems, home to iconic species like the Sumatran tiger, rhino and orangutan. They are also among the most imperiled; in just two decades, between 1990 and 2010, Sumatra lost 40 percent of its old-growth forest. The tigers, rhinos and orangutans that […]
Tag: rainforest
Orangutan population falls by 25 every day — and food we eat is to blame
He may be King of the Swingers, the jungle VIP, but King Louie and his friends will be no more if man continues its relentless and greedy march of destruction. Alarming new figures show that the orangutan population is falling by 25 every day. Monday is World Orangutan Day and animal lovers are asked to […]
Pregnant orang-utan pictured clinging to final tree as bulldozers destroy rainforest around her
A starving, heavily pregnant orang-utan clings to a solitary tree high above what had been pristine rainforest for millennia – till giant bulldozers moved in and flattened it in days. Boon-Mee was too weak and frightened to leave the trunk where she had sought sanctuary as the machines tore down her jungle home in Borneo, […]
From a new bird to a new community reserve: India’s tribe sets example
SINGCHUNG, India — “Follow the rustling in the bushes,” whispers Phurpa Tsering, tiptoeing aside. I hear a brief low-pitched call. A bird, larger than a sparrow but smaller than a pigeon, stirs in the branches before diving deeper into another bush in the ravine. Its partner trails behind, revealing a fleeting glimpse of the bird’s […]
Saving the Helmeted Hornbill
Helmeted Hornbills Rhinoplax vigil are used to clashes. When a tall forest tree is in fruit, rival individuals launch into one of the most remarkable skirmishes seen among birds anywhere. The mighty hornbills, up to 1.5 m in length, take off from their high perches with deep beats of their enormous wings. Just above the […]
Facebook video shows orangutan defending forest against bulldozer
Dramatic footage released last week by an animal welfare group shows a wild orangutan trying in vain to fight off destruction of its rainforest habitat in Borneo. The video, filmed in 2013 but posted on Facebook on June 5th for World Environment Day by International Animal Rescue (IAR), was shot in Sungai Putri, a tract […]
Ghana – rainforest birding on the brink by Adam Riley
My connection with Ghana began rather unexpectedly (and as it turned out, rather humorously) more than ten years ago. I was in contact with a group of birders for whom I arranged and guided an annual tour to Africa. During each trip we would discuss a destination for the following year. We already had South […]
Poll: Should the Nicaraguan interoceanic canal go ahead?
A Chinese company has launched work on a $50bn canal across Nicaragua, an ambitious rival to the Panama canal that sceptics dismiss as a pipe dream and environmentalists say will wreck the country’s ecosystem. The Chinese telecoms magnate behind the canal, Wang Jing, inaugurated the project at a ceremony in the southern town of Rivas […]
