Addressing human-orangutan conflict

Sumatran orangutan

(Pongo abelii)

The IUCN Status

LC Least Concern

CR Critically Endangered

EX Extinct

The challenge

Neutralising a conflict that shouldn’t have been

What if you were driven out of your home for reasons you don’t understand? Or met with hostility where you were hoping to find food and refuge?

This reflects the sad plight of the Sumatran orangutan.

Found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, these primates have made the forest their home. Using powerful limbs and vice-like grips, orangutans climb from tree to tree, looking for fruit, leaves and insects for sustenance, as well as a comfortable spot to call home.

But massive agricultural expansion for palm oil and paper production has led to sweeping forest fires. Tragically and inevitably, orangutans have either been pushed out of their habitat or perished – especially those that cannot escape the inferno fast enough.

In a bid to find a new home, the surviving apes have been constantly on the move. Often, they end up encountering poachers and raiding crops out of hunger – much to the anger of farmers who sometimes resort to killing them as a quick solution.

Now only about 7,300 of orangutans are left in the wild. But that number will keep dwindling as forest fires continue to burn and fuel resentment over the crop-raiding apes.

_{Photo credit: OIC}

The goal

Fostering understanding of orangutans

In 2001, Sumatran conservationist Panut Hadisiswoyo founded the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC), a group dedicated to the protection of Sumatran orangutans. Staffed by Indonesian university graduates, the group aims to educate affected farmers on the plight of the orangutan and rescue those in critical situations.

The group also conducts outreach programmes, training workshops and on-ground efforts to train locals on the proper ways of resolving human-orangutan conflicts. These initiatives seek to ensure that orangutans are treated humanely, and that no extreme measures are taken against them.

Our role

Providing aid when it’s needed most

_{Photo credit: OIC}

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) is a firm supporter of Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU), the flagship response unit of OIC.

In the event of an orangutan encounter, locals are encouraged to call the unit rather than deal with the primates themselves. This is to avoid extreme situations where locals resort to shooting the animals out of fear.

The team immediately comes to the rescue to minimise orangutan contact with humans. The orangutans found to be in harm’s way are then relocated to protected forests in Aceh province.

The team also conducts regular field monitoring of relocated and isolated Sumatran orangutan populations. Likewise, WRS deploys veterinarians for the care of these animals.

In some instances, locals have chosen to keep the apes as pets. The team also responds to such cases, educating would-be keepers that it's illegal to do so, especially as orangutans are wild animals that should not be domesticated.

At the policy level, HOCRU has been active in engaging the support of the local government. It has succeeded in convincing the local government of South Aceh to establish a human-wildlife mitigation task force and a secretariat for wildlife conflict resolution. At the same time, HOCRU has also conducted socialisation training on human-orangutan wildlife mitigation techniques for government personnel at the sub-district and village levels.

The outcome

Activating the community for conservation efforts

_{Photo credit: OIC}

OIC’s work is a fine example of how wildlife conservation efforts often require the community’s support in order to make a positive difference.

To date, close to 950 people have participated in awareness programmes. One OIC-led activity saw farmers learning how to make and use bamboo cannons. Traditionally an Indonesian toy, the noise-making cannons have become an innovative means to scare orangutans away from the crops without harming them.

Seeing how OIC helps to preserve their source of livelihood, locals are also more willing to cooperate. They have learnt to play their part in orangutan conservation and are aware of the laws protecting the animals. In the last five years, HOCRU has successfully rescued a total of 126 orangutans – 65 females, 61 males and 48 infants. The mortality rate of Sumatran orangutans has also declined, while populations in viable forest blocks have increased, showing that OIC’s work is making a critical difference to ensure the survival of this species.