New Age Orangutan Conservation
Posted at 11:51 am June 11, 2008 by Juan Fernandez
Last month I had the opportunity to attend the New Living Expo in San Francisco. On behalf of the San Diego Zoo, I accepted an invitation by the director of Orangutan Outreach, Richard Zimmerman, and his wife, Robin, to help raise awareness and funds directly contributing to orangutan conservation. Armed with some show-and-tell items, information pamphlets, and 50 plush orangutan toys, we had no idea what to expect from the thousands of anticipated guests visiting that weekend.
We were very excited about this pilot program and we wanted to get people excited about conservation. To get their attention, we decorated an elaborate booth filled with cute orangutan photos and canvas art pieces made by our resident Bornean orangutan, Janey. People were naturally drawn to our booth. Once they approached, we talked about the palm oil industry and its direct effect on the ecology of many animals in Indonesia, specifically Bornean and Sumatran orangutans.
The large corporate logging industries are destroying the forests in Indonesia at a fast rate. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) reports, between the years 2000 and 2005, Indonesia had the second-most cleared tropical rain forest in the world. This diverse ecosystem is home to the only great ape that occurs outside of Africa, the orangutan. Other species include the Sumatran tiger, pygmy rhino, clouded leopards, and pygmy forest elephants.
Unfortunately, Indonesian rain forest is prime land for the world’s second-most produced crop oil in the world. The African oil palm Elaeis guineensis was introduced to Southeast Asia in the early 1600s. Roughly 90 percent of the palm oil produced comes from the Indonesian region. The problem comes into focus once we begin to see how unaware consumers contribute to this issue. Most Americans have no idea how many products in their home actually contain palm oil and palm-based products: detergents, soaps, cosmetics, and household products contain palm oil. One out of every five food items we buy at the grocery store, especially baked goods, contain palm oil. Other wording that is used in conjunction with palm oil is palmate, palm kernel, and even vegetable oil. There is little accountability from the large companies on where their palm oil is coming from. It’s cheap to produce, has a favorable taste for food items, and it’s a great preservative in many products.
Secondarily, the boom in biofuel as an alternative source of energy is using palm oil to run its machines. This low emission alternative comes with a high price as forests around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate.
By becoming conscious consumers, we can have a huge positive impact on what goes on halfway around the world. Raising awareness and being able to pass this on was the message to the hundreds of people that came by our conservation booth. It was exhilarating and exhausting, but I enjoyed every second! On behalf of Orangutan Outreach, we collected over $2,000 in cash donations and another $2,000 in online adoptions. One hundred percent of the contributions went directly to benefit over 650 orphaned orangutans that lost their mothers due to the palm oil industry in Borneo.
Juan Fernandez is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
Watch our orangutans and siamangs daily on Ape Cam…
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June 11th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Juan, Thank you for bringing the plight of these animal to the publics attention. I have seen so many specials on the orangutans and the look on the babies faces is heart breaking, just see the mutilation of the mothers is very disturbing. The tigers are a passion of mine since I get to see them when I go to South Carolina and visit T.I.G.E.R.S which tries to preserve endangered species. Keep up the fantastic work.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
For the last few years I have been trying, as far as possible, not to buy products containing palm oil. As for bio-fuels, the less said about that the better.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
It’s great to hear that the San Diego Zoo is taking action on this issue. I have visited the zoo often this summer, as I work in Balboa Park. I’ve noticed that the few signs that offer some information on rainforest conservation (near the Sun Bears and the Orangutans) are a bit outdated and don’t inform visitors about the current situation with the Palm Oil industry. Zoo patrons, myself included, spend a lot of time watching the Orangutans, they have such personality! We really do read those signs, too. Some information there could make a big difference!
From our Marketing Department: We appreciate your comments and are always looking for ideas to improve our guests’ experience. The upgrading of signs throughout the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park is an ongoing process. Our hope is to continually improve the information we display, and your comments help us to do just that!
October 4th, 2008 at 5:58 am
i love janey
February 9th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I think Jany is very cute and how come the animals do not relly come out are they shy or is it just bad weather for the animals because they do not relly come out that much on the cam.