Will the COVID19 pandemic give conservationists a chance to save the world’s most endangered great ape, the Critically Endangered Tapanuli orangutan? The planned Batang Toru hydroelectric dam poses serious threats to the survival of the Critically Endangered Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) – the world’s rarest great ape, with just over 700 individuals estimated to remain. The COVID-19...
With fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans and 800 Tapanuli orangutans remaining in the wild, these species are already in a very precarious position, and if an individual orangutan was to contract Covid 19, it could devastate already critically endangered populations. Orangutans are at risk of contracting human respiratory diseases – even a common cough or...
Should we be worried about the impact of Covid-19 on orangutans? Great apes are our closest living relatives and are known to be susceptible to catching respiratory diseases from people. Leading scientists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could therefore wipe out populations of orangutans and other great apes. While no great apes have yet...
