The baby, who was named Muaro, is believed to be just 15 months old. While his life has had a tragic beginning, he’s now getting a second chance thanks to the intervention of law enforcement and wildlife officials, and a team from International Animal Rescue(IAR).
According to IAR, his owner said he had found him alone when an area was being cleared for a palm oil plantation and felt sorry for him, so he took him home.
He built a small wooden cage the size of a cupboard, which Muaro has been living in for more than a year, while being fed nothing but condensed milk and human food.
Although he seemed fine at first, his rescuers discovered he was suffering from a skin disease and a respiratory problem.
Thankfully, he was quickly taken to IAR’s orangutan rescue center in West Borneo, where he’ll spend a few weeks in quarantine while he settles in and gets assessed.
Hopefully Muaro will thrive in IAR’s care and will one day be able to return to the wild, but his story is yet another heartbreaking reminder about the plight of these critically endangered great apes who are being pushed closer and closer to the brink of extinction.
“Muaro is yet another victim of the terrible impact of the palm oil industry. His mother was almost certainly killed for him to be all alone in the devastated forest. Happily he is in safe hands now. Once he is out of quarantine, he will join more than 100 other orangutans undergoing rehabilitation at our centre and begin his long journey back to freedom,” said Alan Knight OBE, CEO of IAR.
Sadly, as more of their habitat is lost or destroyed, they continue to become more vulnerable as they venture closer to people in search of food, which puts them at further risk of conflict and death.
A recent study that found nearly 150,000 Bornean orangutans were lost between just 1999 and 2015, which is roughly half their population. Unfortunately, researchers also predicted that another 45,000 could disappear in the next 35 years due to habitat loss alone, making each life incredibly valuable.
“Every individual counts in our efforts to save this Critically Endangered species from extinction,” added Knight. “The lives of Muaro and all the other rescued orangutans in our centre are so precious if orangutan populations are to be preserved for future generations.”
IAR is working to save those they can, in addition to working with local communities to avoid conflict, but hope and responsibility for a future with orangutans goes far beyondtheir borders when it comes to conservation efforts and preserving the habitat orangutans need to survive.
For updates on Muaro and ways to help orangutans like him, check out International Animal Rescue.
Photo credit: International Animal Rescue
Sumber : https://www.care2.com/causes/baby-orangutan-rescued-from-a-cage-the-size-of-a-cupboard.html