While the Malaysian part of Borneo does have orangutan sanctuaries, mainland Malaysia does not. The Prime Minister now wants to have a new eco-tourism attraction built near the capital, but finds it difficult to get the necessary primates moved.

The Star Online reported that both of the currently existing wildlife centers on the Malaysian part of Borneo are not in favor of relocating any of their primates to the mainland, even if that goes against the wishes of the current Prime Minister Mohamed Najib bin Abdul Razak.
(more…)

Sarawak and Sabah are not willing to relocate their orangutans to a new sanctuary for the primate in Kuala Lumpur.

Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr. James Dawos Mamit said both states wanted their orangutans to stay where they were and, therefore, the government now had to look for orangutans from a small island in Perak.

He said the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) had allocated about 200 acres in Kepong to set up the new eco-tourism attraction that was similar to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre in Kuching and the Sepilok orangutan sanctuary in Sandakan.

“We are going to transfer some of the orangutan from the island in Perak since the population has increased and exceeded the island’s caring capacity, which makes it difficult for the primates to get enough food,” he said opening SK Siburan Baru Parent-Teacher Association’s annual general meeting on March 20.
(more…)

From treks through the jungles of Sumatra to musical experiments at the Saint Louis Zoo, author Shawn Thompson examines all aspects of orangutan culture and conservation in his new book, The Intimate Ape: Orangutans and the Secret Life of a Vanishing Species (Citadel Press), which will be launched at an event co-sponsored by the Orangutan Conservancy at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo on Saturday, March 13.

The Intimate Ape is one of the first books to juxtapose the intelligence and empathy of orangutans with their current extinction status in situ, and uses examples from the spectrum of orangutans found in captivity and in the wild.

The Fresno Chaffee Zoo event, “Measuring the Worth of the Life of One Orangutan: A Celebration and Commemoration,” will occur at 5 p.m. (PST) and will be streamed live via the internet. A panel of experts will discuss a variety of orangutan issues, focusing primarily on Aazk, an orangutan featured in the book that died at the zoo in 2003 of natural causes.

The book includes a number of projects supported by the Orangutan Conservancy (OC), including the rescue and rehabilitation centers in Borneo and Sumatra, and conservation outreach programs such as the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative.

“This is a fascinating book, and Shawn Thompson has done an excellent job of revealing orangutans to be intelligent, sensitive and dynamic beings,” said OC president Norm Rosen. “Each of the stories in this book help build the case for saving orangutans, but it goes one step further — it adds an urgency that OC is proud to support.”
(more…)

Countries across south-east Asia are being systematically drained of wildlife to meet a booming demand for exotic pets in Europe and Japan and traditional medicine in China – posing a greater threat to many species than habitat loss or global warming.

More than 35 million animals were legally exported from the region over the past decade, official figures show, and hundreds of millions more could have been taken illegally. Almost half of those traded were seahorses and more than 17 million were reptiles. About 1 million birds and 400,000 mammals were traded, along with 18 million pieces of coral.

The situation is so serious that experts have invented a new term – empty forest syndrome – to describe the gaping holes in biodiversity left behind.

“There’s lots of forest where there are just no big animals left,” says Chris Shepherd of Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network. “There are some forests where you don’t even hear birds.”

Seahorses, butterflies, turtles, lizards, snakes, macaques, birds and corals are among the most common species exported from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Much of the business is controlled by criminal gangs, Shepherd says, and many of the animals end up in Europe as pets. The rarer the species, the greater the demand and the higher the price. Collectors will happily pay several thousand pounds for a single live turtle.
(more…)