Before the deadly landslides and floods hit Indonesia about two weeks ago, Amran Siagian, 39, frequently met Tapanuli orang utans on a hill in the region of Sipirok, North Sumatra province.
Siagian, who has been working as a ranger to protect the endangered animal at the Orangutan Information Center (OIC) for at least five years, remembers how the orang utans were fond of eating durian and other fruits from farms in the area.
But after the landslides hit Sipirok, the orang utans are nowhere to be seen.
The cyclone-induced floods and landslides had killed 962 people as of yesterday, with 291 listed as missing.
The storms also killed about 200 people in southern Thailand and Malaysia.
“They must have moved away, further and further away. I can no longer hear their voices,” Siagian said.
Local leaders and green groups said deforestation linked to mining and logging aggravated the impact of the floods and landslides.
In Sipirok, a village in the region of South Tapanuli which was among the hardest hit by the disaster, large trees appear to have been cut down.
Siagian said a company had been logging in the area for at least a year. The deforestation had affected the orang utans even before the floods, he said.
“The orang utans live by moving between forest canopies, from branch to branch. If the forest is sparse, it must be difficult for them,” Siagian said.
“If there is no government help, the orang utans could go extinct here. Especially with this massive deforestation,” he said. — Reuters
