Orangutan can barely be seen - Yvonne Rennesia Gulo

Did you know? Orangutans are one of the wildlife animals in Indonesia that we almost never see frequently, and 19th August became World Orangutan Day. Since one century, the population began to decrease sharply. From WWF, they predict that Orangutan populations were 230,000 species back then. But right now, there are only 104,700 species left. But why are orangutans being categorized as wildlife? One major reason they began to disappear is that we use their habitat as our main needs. Some people were trying to kill an Orangutan because they say that the Orangutan is big and lumber. We can find this species only in two provinces, Kalimantan and Sumatra. There is one organization called International Animal Rescue(IAR), based in West Kalimantan, to protect our lovely animals. IAR Indonesia works with local and national governments, the private sector, other NGOs and consultancy firms, and international certification schemes to facilitate this. Before going far, it was nice to educate and encourage people that live near the area. IAR began to teach some basic orangutan movement patterns, so people have a better understanding of how orangutans behave, where they are likely to travel and how to move them away from possible sources of conflict. Also, they teach the citizens to build cannons to steer the orangutan back into the forest or away from humans and/or crops.

As teenagers, we can do some action too! Start with simple things, such as supporting organizations that are ambitious to protect Orangutans, avoiding products made with unsustainable palm oil, making small changes in your day to conserve natural resources, spreading to others and sharing the stories about how positively you changed your life when you began to contribute.