We have issued a ‘CODE RED’ alert to draw attention to the plight of the Critically Endangered great apes on 19th August - International Orangutan Day.
Our orangutan rehabilitation centre in Ketapang, West Borneo is currently caring for 109 orangutans. The majority of them will one day be released back into their rightful home in the rainforest.
All three species of orangutan are now listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), signalling that they are moving perilously close to extinction. In order to raise awareness of their plight and raise funds for our vital work, the public is being asked to wear red on 19th August and donate £3 towards our orangutan conservation project.
We have released a powerful campaign video which demonstrates the desperate plight of the orangutans and our tireless work to save them.
Alan Knight OBE, our Chief Executive, said: “The situation could not be more critical for the orangutan. Habitat loss and hunting have caused the species’ numbers to plummet. In the years between 1999 and 2015 150,000 Bornean orangutans were lost. It is estimated that every day 20 orangutans vanish from the face of the earth. If action isn’t taken to halt their decline, a third of the remaining population will be wiped out by 2020.”
The orangutan rescue project in West Borneo involves:
- Coming to the aid of wild orangutans left stranded when their forest home is destroyed and relocating these vulnerable animals into safe areas of protected forest.
- Rescuing and rehabilitating baby orangutans that have been snatched from their mothers and sold as pets, as well as adults that have spent years in captivity, chained or locked up in tiny cages.
- Providing a permanent home for animals that can’t fend for themselves.
- Managing an extensive landscape conservation project which includes protection of the orangutan’s natural habitat, teaching sustainable farming methods to local farmers and reforestation of areas lost in fires.
- Bringing education and outreach programmes to local communities to inspire and encourage changes in attitudes and behaviour.
Knight concluded: “We urge everyone to support our CODE RED campaign on International Orangutan Day. These great apes need all the help they can get and we are urging people to use this opportunity to increase awareness of the orangutans’ desperate plight and raise funds to support our vital work to save them.”