Dozens of orang utans saved from Indonesia blazes
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A mother orang utan and her baby being evacuated after they were trapped by forest and land fires in a palm oil plantation area in West Kalimantan on Sept 18.
PHOTO: AFP
JAKARTA – Dozens of critically endangered orang utans have been rescued in recent weeks from rampant wildfires burning across Indonesia, conservation groups said.
The fires have triggered a months-long pollution spell that has closed schools, fuelled a surge in respiratory conditions both among humans and animals, and restricted outdoor activities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor.
Pollution levels again ranged from unhealthy to very unhealthy across the region on Oct 18, cloaking many areas across southern South-east Asia in toxic haze.
Swiss-based air quality monitor IQAir again ranked Singapore and Kuala Lumpur among the world’s top five most polluted major cities as fires on Borneo and Sumatra islands, intensified by a turbo-charged El Nino weather phenomenon, keep emitting smoke.
In Indonesia, groups are working to save wildlife from the fires, including orang utans.
On Oct 17, the West Kalimantan conservation agency and Indonesian non-profit YIARI said a team had evacuated 51 orang utans from locations in the province since Aug 6.
And figures from Indonesia’s forestry ministry suggested this week that the number rescued over recent months in Kalimantan could be as high as 96.
Officials could not be immediately reached to clarify the number.
The latest rescue came on Oct 17, when three conservation agencies rescued a 20-year-old male orang utan in Hampangen village in Central Kalimantan, on Borneo island.
“The evacuation process was carried out with great caution,” the agencies said.
“After the orang utan was sedated, the medical team immediately conducted a health examination before taking the animal to the... rehabilitation centre,” it added.
Indonesia’s transport ministry also said around 2,400 flights across the country have been affected by the haze since mid-August.
“Haze reduces visibility around airports, which can lead to delays, disruptions and even flight cancellations. Every operational decision is made with safety as the top priority,” the ministry said.
‘Not enough rain’
In Singapore, concentrations of PM2.5, a fine particulate pollutant, remained elevated in western parts on Oct 18, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) staying in the “very unhealthy” range.
Although PM2.5 is the dominant pollutant during haze episodes and one of six indicators used to calculate Singapore’s overall PSI, it is not the same as the PSI itself.
Wang Jingyu, a Singapore-based atmospheric sciences expert, said the region was firmly in the grip of a super El Nino weather phenomenon.
Because “of the super El Nino across the entire South-east Asia, the sea surface temperature is cooler than normal”, he added.
“Under these conditions, cooler sea surface temperature means we do not have enough evaporation from the ocean”, meaning insufficient rain, he said. “We do not have enough rain, the fire cannot be easily put out.” AFP