The hidden population of the Bornean Orangutan

The orangutan population consisting of 200 individuals found living hidden in a forest of Borneo island. The discovery of a secret population of orangutan subspecies Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus was greeted enthusiastically by conservation activists amid rising threat of extinction of the orangutan.

Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus. (Picture from: http://www.fobi.web.id/)

Wildlife Conservation Society said the population of P. pygmaeus pygmaeus previously estimated 4,500 individuals living in the wild. Two thousand people are living in Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in Sarawak, Malaysia.

"This subspecies to be the most threatened," said the research team, on April 11, 2013. The newly discovered population living in the forest area of 140 square kilometers near the Batang Ai State Park, Sarawak.

Local residents have been aware of the existence of orangutans in the area, but the researchers just found out when the Wildlife Conservation Society and a number of conservationists doing large research at the site since February, 2013.

"We found a total of 995 nests, including the fresh nests shows rare primate populations that occupy forest recently," said the research team. Sarawak State Government responded to these findings by considering new protections, including establishing a new national park, at the location of the hiding orangutan populations.

A mature male Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). (Picture from: http://de.123rf.com/)

The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is the endemic primate of Indonesia and Malaysia rainforests. The three subspecies of Bornean orangutan (P. pygmaeus wurmbii, P. pygmaeus morio, and P. pygmaeus pygmaeus) which has endangered status.

Pongo pygmaeus morio or the Black Bornean Orangutan. (Picture from: http://theprancingpapio.blogspot.com/)

P. pygmaeus wurmbii live scattered in the center of the Borneo island, P. pygmaeus morio in the northeast, as well as P. pygmaeus pygmaeus in West Borneo and Sarawak slightly. In 2008, scientists estimated the total population of orangutans on Borneo island about 54 thousand individuals. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4200]

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