Bornean Orangutan!
The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), it belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia. Like the other great apes, orangutans are highly intelligent, displaying tool use and distinct cultural patterns in the wild. Orangutans share approximately 97% of their DNA with humans. Also called mias by the local population, the Bornean orangutan is a critically endangered species, with deforestation, palm oil plantations, and hunting posing a serious threat to its continued existence.
The Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan diverged about 400,000 years ago, with a continued low level of gene flow between them since then. The two orangutan species were considered merely subspecies until 1996; they were elevated to species following sequencing of their mitochondrial DNA.
The Bornean orangutan has three subspecies:
Northwest Bornean orangutan Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus – Sarawak (Malaysia) and northern West Kalimantan (Indonesia).
Central Bornean orangutan P. p. wurmbii – Southern West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan (Indonesia).
Northeast Bornean orangutan P. p. morio – East Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Sabah (Malaysia). (see galleries below)
There is some uncertainty about this, however. The population currently listed as P. p. wurmbii may be closer to the Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii) than to the Bornean orangutan. If this is confirmed, P. abelii would be a subspecies of P. wurmbii (Tiedeman, 1808). In addition, the type locality of P. pygmaeus has not been established beyond doubt; it may be from the population currently listed as P. wurmbii (in which case P. wurmbii would be a junior synonym of P. pygmaeus, while one of the names currently considered a junior synonym of P. pygmaeus would take precedence for the taxon in Sarawak and northern West Kalimantan). Bradon-Jones et al. considered P. morio to be a synonym of P. pygmaeus, and the population found in East Kalimantan and Sabah to be a potentially unnamed separate taxon.
In early October 2014, researchers from domestic and foreign countries found about 50 orangutans in several groups in South Kalimantan Province, although previously there is no record that the province has orangutans.
As a member of the family Hominidae, Bornean orangutans are one of the closest extant relatives to Homo sapiens.
This species was originally discovered by native Malaysians. There are several mentions of orangutans in Malaysian folklore. However, this species was originally named and described by the notable zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1799. Its original name was Simia satyrus, meaning "satyr monkey", but was changed when scientists discovered that not all orangutans are one species. The holotype of this organism is located in the British Museum in London.
The current species name P. pygmaeus is not Latin unlike most other Linnean classifications. The genus name Pongo is derived from the Bantu word mpongo used to indicate a large primate. It was originally used to describe chimpanzees in Western African dialects. The species name pygmaeus is derived from the Greek word "pygmy" meaning dwarf.
The Bornean orangutan lives in tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest in the Bornean lowlands, as well as mountainous areas up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) above sea level. This species lives throughout the canopy of primary and secondary forest, and moves large distances to find trees bearing fruit.
It is found in the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and four of the five Indonesian Provinces of Kalimantan. Due to habitat destruction, the species distribution is now highly patchy throughout the island, the species has become rare in the southeast of the island, as well as in the forest between the Rajang River in central Sarawak and the Padas River in western Sabah. Its presence in Brunei is uncertain and unconfirmed.
The first complete orangutan skeleton that was discovered was in the Hoa Binh province in Vietnam and thought to be from the late Pleistocene epoch. It differed from modern orangutans only in that its body was proportionately smaller compared to its head. This fossil and others confirm that orangutans once inhabited continental Southeast Asia even though currently, Bornean orangutans are only found in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Bornean orangutan is more common than the Sumatran, with about 104,700 individuals in the wild, whereas just under 14,000 Sumatran orangutans are left in the wild. Orangutans are becoming increasingly endangered due to habitat destruction and the bushmeat trade, and young orangutans are captured to be sold as pets, usually entailing the killing of their mothers.
The Bornean orangutan is critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List of mammals, and is listed on Appendix I of CITES. The total number of Bornean orangutans is estimated to be less than 14% of what it was in the recent past (from around 10,000 years ago until the middle of the 20th century), and this sharp decline has occurred mostly over the past few decades due to human activities and development. Species distribution is now highly patchy throughout Borneo; it is apparently absent or uncommon in the southeast of the island, as well as in the forest between the Rajang River in central Sarawak and the Padas River in western Sabah (including the Sultanate of Brunei). A population of around 6,900 is found in Sabangau National Park, but this environment is at risk.
This view is also supported by the United Nations Environment Programme, which stated in its 2007 report that, due to illegal logging, fire and the extensive development of palm oil plantations, orangutans are critically endangered, and if the current trend continues, they will become extinct. When forest is burned down to clear room for palm oil plantations, not only does the Bornean orangutan suffer from habitat loss, but several individuals have been burned and killed in fires. Palm oil accounts for over one tenth of Indonesia's export earnings. It is in high demand because it is used in several packaged foods, deodorants, shampoos, soaps, candies, and baked goods.
Climate change is another threat to Bornean orangutan conservation. The effects that human activity have had on Indonesian rainfall have made food less abundant and so Bornean orangutans are less likely to receive full nutrients so that they can be sufficiently healthy to breed.
A November 2011 survey, based on interviews with 6,983 respondents in 687 villages across Kalimantan in 2008 to 2009, gave estimated orangutan killing rates of between 750 and 1800 in the year leading up to April 2008. These killing rates were higher than previously thought and confirm that the continued existence of the orangutan in Kalimantan is under serious threat. The survey did not quantify the additional threat to the species due to habitat loss from deforestation and expanding palm-oil plantations. The survey found that 73% of respondents knew orangutans were protected by Indonesian law.
However, the Indonesian government rarely prosecutes or punishes perpetrators. In a rare prosecution in November 2011, two men were arrested for killing at least 20 orangutans and a number of long-nosed proboscis monkeys. They were ordered to conduct the killings by the supervisor of a palm oil plantation, to protect the crop, with a payment of $100 for a dead orangutan and $22 for a monkey.
