Yesterday I went to the DC Zoo to check out the orangutan exhibit. There were orangutans playing peek-a-boo, and I got some neat pictures of them eating and playing. The youngest orangutans there were my age (23). In captivity, orangutans can live up to 60 years.Orangutans are critically endangered, and surprisingly enough, there wasn't any information available in the exhibit on this issue. The foot traffic must reach thousands everyday, and yet no one has taken the initiative to provide educational information on the severity of orangutan genocide at the national zoo. Even a bulletin board would provide valuable information and help bring attention to the general public. The majority of those visiting the exhibit are not aware of the possible approaching extinction of the orangutans. Zoo's are there to educate, and I'd like to see them act as a bigger advocate for the orangutans.
I'll be contacting the Zoo in the near future. Hopefully after I bring this to their attention they will provide information in their exhibit on how palm oil plantations and logging are killing this beautiful, innocent species, and what we can do to help.
Orangutans are listed as highly endangered. There are approximately 30,000 left. 80% of their habitat has been destroyed in the past 25 years. 90% in the past 100 years.
orangutans in the wild could disappear from Sumatra and Borneo in 10 years, to be found only in zoos, scientists have warned. Since 1998, the orangutan population in Sumatra has been declining by 1,000 a year, due mainly to the accelerated destruction of their habitat. - orangutan.com
Orangutans are classified as an endangered species. This means that if actions are not taken to counteract threats to their survival, Orangutans are at risk of extinction in the near future. Experts estimate that this could perhaps happen within the next 10-20 years. - essortment.com
