Science
CROSS-SPECTRUMBROAD COVERAGE
Indonesian wildfires endanger half of Borneo's critically-endangered orangutans
Wildfires raging in Indonesian Borneo are affecting habitats that host 52 % of the island’s orangutan population, according to the IUCN.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature reports that the ongoing fires in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra are burning through areas where more than half of the remaining Bornean orangutans live. Smoke and heat are causing physiological and behavioral stress for the primates. The haze from the blazes is also drifting over neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, worsening regional air quality.
Why it matters
The fires threaten the survival of critically endangered orangutans and worsen regional air quality.
In this story
wildfiresorangutanspeat foresthazeBorneoIndonesiaconservationIUCNhabitat losssmoke exposure
