Climate victims part 4, the orangutan

To be taken for a ride. An apt proverb, because the orang-oetan is in trouble due to global warming. Climate victim number 4 from the top 5 from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Longer periods of rain disrupt pollination patterns, causing the trees to produce no or fewer fruits. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for the orangutan to find food.   United Nations (Geneva) 1998 Vietnam 1981 Orangutan (Pongo) comes from the Malay Orang Utan, which means forest man. A well-chosen name, as this ape lives even more in the trees than other great apes such as the chimpanzee, the gorilla, and the bonobo. The orangutan eats fruit, tree bark, and insects, especially ants. It can weigh up to 90 kilograms and grow to 1,40 meters tall. It is an intelligent animal. As much as 97 percent of the orangutan's DNA matches human DNA. Take a look at the series of stamps from Indonesia below. We don't swing from tree to tree, but the facial expressions do have something human about them.    Indonesia 1989 There are two types of orangutans. The Borneose orang-oeten (Pongo pygmaeus) and the Sumatraanse orang-oetan (Pongo Abelii). Orangutans used to live in large parts of the mainland and the islands of Southeast Asia. Nowadays, they are only found in North Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo. There are believed to be between 50.000 and 60.000 still living in the rainforests. Because orangutans are very shy, researchers can only make an estimate. Do the following stamps (from the Netherlands and Great Britain) feature Bornean or Sumatran orangutans?     The Netherlands 1988 Great Britain 2009 It is not only the more extreme rainy seasons that threaten orangutans. Slowly but surely, their natural habitat is disappearing. Due to illegal logging, for example. 70% of the hardwood imported into the Netherlands from Indonesia is illegally logged. And due to forest fires. Farmers want to burn down a small patch of forest for new agricultural land and are subsequently unable to control the fire. But also due to palm oil plantations. Palm oil is used for the soap and food industries and for biofuel. Due to increasing demand, more and more rainforest is disappearing. Will orangutans still be able to live in the trees in the future, as depicted on the stamps of São Tomé and Príncipe?   Sao Tome in Principle 2004 And what I find worst of all is that there is still illegal trade in orangutans. For every illegally traded baby orangutan, an average of three other orangutans have had to be shot. Because there are people who absolutely insist on having a baby orangutan as a pet. It is sickening to decide over the lives of animals in this way. I shudder at the thought of the orangutan going extinct. That we will only be able to 'look at monkeys' in a zoo. Just a quick rundown of the previous three climate victims; the sea turtle the tiger the coral