Humans are main culprits of wildlife extinction, not palm oil, says ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has clarified that hunting by humans was a major contributor to the decline of Bornean orangutans over the last 200 years, long before significant oil palm development began in the 1970s.

In conjunction with International Orangutan Day, which is celebrated every year on Aug 19, the ministry said allegations of palm oil being the biggest threat to the orangutans, with some quarters even going to the extent of brandishing the golden oil as an orangutan killer.