Today is International Orangutan Day! 🦧
Happy International Orangutan Day! 🧡🦧
International Orangutan Day is celebrated on the 19th of August every year.
There are there different species of orangutan in the world. Those three different species of orangutan are - the Sumatran orangutan, the Bornean orangutan, and the Tapanuli orangutan.
This day is also about raising awareness about orangutans: sadly, orangutans are critically endangered today.
The WWF has the following populations for the different orangutan species -
Bornean orangutan - 104,700
Sumatran orangutan - 13,846
Tapanuli orangutan - 800
This means that the Tapanuli orangutan is by far the most endangered of all of the orangutan species.
This is the conservation status of the orangutan species -
Bornean orangutan - critically endangered
Sumatran orangutan - critically endangered
Tapanuli orangutan - critically endangered
This means that all of the three orangutan species are critically endangered, and overall orangutans are critically endangered.
Sadly, orangutans are at risk of becoming extinct because of the threats that they face.
The main threats that orangutans faces is the deforestation of their rainforest home - their rainforests are often destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, illegal logging and agriculture - while they are also at risk because they are hunted by people.
We need to protect orangutans and their rainforests homes if we are going to stop them from becoming extinct.
They are amazing and fascinating animals that should be protected and saved. We can live in harmony with nature, instead of working against nature.
We are lucky we get to share the world with these amazing animals.
Happy Orangutan Day! 🦧