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Photo Courtesy of
Perry van Duijnhoven |
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Orangutans in the Ketambe Research Center in northern Sumatra have been studied almost continuously since the early 1970s. The Park and its environs have undergone substantial illegal logging in the past decade, and it seems intuitive that any increase in logging would result in a decrease in orangutan numbers. But wild orangutans are now known to be able to survive in partially logged areas. This is heartening because it may be possible to secure partially logged areas for conservation, since they are less attractive for commercial exploitation.
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Photo Courtesy of
Perry van Duijnhoven |
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It is imperative to study the Ketambe orangutan population today, and compare numbers, density, food availability and behavior to pre-logging levels. The existence of the vast pre-logging database makes Ketambe one of the few places where the effects of logging on individually identified orangutans can be studied scientifically. This database was given to the Great Ape Trust in 2006 for perpetual safekeeping and use in this research. The work will not only help to understand and secure the Ketambe orangutan population, but may well lead to a new general strategy to save orangutans and other apes. Also, because the Ketambe site is located completely within the Gunung Leuser National Park, and therefore also lies in the Sumatran Rainforest World Heritage Site and the Leuser Ecosystem, it is a major piece of the Sumatran orangutan landscape. There are only about 6,700 orangutans left in all of Sumatra, so this work is crucially important to saving this species.
Our awards ($17,500 in 2006 and now $10,000 in 2007) support the salaries and field expenses of the Indonesian field assistants and students who would conduct the observations. Lindsay Carrothers, an Iowa State University graduate student, also joined the field team for a short period in 2007. These students are getting valuable first-hand experience that complements their university work, and builds a foundation for the next generation of primatologists. The team that we funded, led by Dr. Serge Wich, visiting scientist at The Trust, is finding that the orangutans seem to spend less time and feed less in the logged part of the forest, but the data have not yet been completely analyzed. They are also finding more nests in the study area, which may indicate that the orangutans are crowding into the site due to habitat loss in surrounding areas. The team also discovered some new encroachment into the park by small-scale agriculturalists; a strategy is being formulated to deal with this. On a brighter note, several orangutans known from previous studies were rediscovered, including an adult female named “Yet” who was first identified and followed in 1971.
Dr Wich’s scientific productivity continues to be extraordinary; he was a co-author of nine scientific publications in 2006/2007, with topics ranging from orangutan innovation, energetics, intestinal parasites and development, to frugivory in sun bears and the life history of Thomas langur monkeys. |
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