Feb02

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Raquel Benson is a Senior Contributor to TDA, a journalism student, humanist, and artist with issues of chronic imagination. She may be brash, but it stems from a deeper concern for the world around her.

Defenseless

Orangutans Saved By Four Paws

Animal Rights – Indonesia – As hunters closed in and prepared to slaughter a defenseless pregnant orangutan and her baby, Four Paws, a British-based animal rescue group arrived in the nick of time, saving them from certain death.

“Our arrival could not have been more timely [...] A few minutes later and the orangutans could have been dead,” said Four Paws primate expert Dr. Signe Preuschoft. “We discovered a gang of young men surrounding them and both victims were clearly petrified [...] The gang meanwhile were jubilant in anticipation of their rewards for catching and killing the animals. These massacres must not be allowed to continue.”

Orangutans are suffering from habit loss due to deforestation by major palm oil companies, which is rapidly becoming the norm in places like Borneo. According to reports, palm oil is “used in hundreds of products from chocolate to oven chips,” and the demand for low priced oil is resulting in the deforestation as companies “make way for plantations.”

The nightmare for orangutans doesn’t stop at habit loss — they are considered “pests” because they encroach on the plantations, and according to the Daily Mail, some “company executives are reported to be offering up to £ 70 to employees for each orangutan killed on the palm oil plantations.”

“Killing of orangutans is illegal in Indonesia but the law is lacking enforcement,” said a British Four Paws spokesman.