Posts Tagged ‘orangutan’

Feb
17

Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation is on Facebook!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Attwater's Prairie Chicken,Black bears,Borneo,Carnivores,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Galapagos,Going Green,Gorilla,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Travel

 

Booming chickens on prairies and adventures to find bear hair in the Big Thicket. Leech infested forests? Monsoons? Leg swallowing mud and Sea Gull poo? Wild Orangutans that use bridges and toads with implants.  Confused? Don’t be. Join us and interact with local and global conservation on our new Houston Zoo Conservation Facebook page. Keep up with the conservation department and our partners in the field, and don’t forget to comment along the way!

Link here and follow along: http://www.facebook.com/#!/houstonzooconservation

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Nov
09

Spotlight on Species: Orangutan Caring Weekend

Posted by in Borneo,Conservation,Endangered Species,Field Research,orangutan

Thank You for Participating in International Orangutan Caring Weekend!

Congratulations on your role in a very successful fundraiser!  We are happy to report that this year’s International Orangutan Caring Weekend was attended by 3,366 people.  Through the generosity of our donors and guests and the hard work of the employees, volunteers, and docents of the Houston Zoo, $1,915.00 was raised!

Ornaments painted by the orangs

All the proceeds from the fundraising items produced by the orangutans, elephants, siamangs, and clouded leopards for orangutans, elephants, siamangs, and clouded leopard will go to fund the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project.  The animals of the Houston Zoo have worked hard to produce these items.  Their keepers are striving to make this project work, expanding the scope of their animal care beyond the collection of the Houston Zoo.  Thank you for joining us in supporting the scientists, rangers, and teachers who have dedicated their lives to the long-term survival of the orangutans and elephants of Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.

Spotlight on Species

Thank you so much for you part in helping Houston Zoo orangutans help wild orangutans, Houston Zoo elephants help wild elephants, Houston Zoo siamangs help wild siamangs, and Houston Zoo clouded leopards help wild leopards! We hope that you are proud of your contribution to conserving space for wild animals and will continue to support this project.

Sincerely,
The Houston Zoo Primate Staff

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Jul
15

Orangutan Bridges

Posted by in community-based conservation,Endangered Species,orangutan,Travel

Today, one of the major threats to the long-term survival of the orang-utan in the area is the intense fragmentation process that results from these recent man-made transformations and jeopardizes animal’s movements. Recent surveys conducted by the “Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project” (KOCP) and the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) have shown that the Kinabatangan orang-utan population is split into at least 20 different sub-populations. It is well established that fragmented and isolated wildlife populations face increased risks of inbreeding, diseases, and localized extinction.

In 2003, KOCP and the Sabah Wildlife Department decided to set up rope bridges above the tributaries of the Kinabatangan River to provide access for arboreal species to cross these water bodies. So far, a total of seven bridges have been installed. These bridges are tied up to remaining trees on both sides of the tributaries and provide a physical connection between the two banks.

This bridge project was initially supported by zoos (Cleveland Metroparks, Columbus Zoo, the Houston Zoo) and other KOCP partners. Over the years, multiple designs were tested in an attempt to find a suitable model that could be used by the orang-utans. Over the years, several witnesses claimed to have seen orang-utans using the KOCP bridges, and the first photographic evidence of this was finally obtained in February 2010.

Although the evidenced use of these bridges is a success for the KOCP partnerships/rope-bridge project, in reality, these rope bridges are only a temporary fix. There remains the urgent need to re-establish contiguous forest between isolated patches of habitat that are inhabited by the orang-utans. To be successful in a constantly changing environment, efficient conservation measures need to be undertaken at the landscape level, incorporating a variety of stakeholders and multiple-use habitats where people and wildlife live together.

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Jan
20

Orangutans vs Palm Oil in Malaysia

Posted by in Endangered Species,Featured,orangutan,What You Can Do

The Houston Zoo has supported the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project since 2005 with a primary focus on the orang-utans use of secondary forest. Recently, program co-director Dr. Marc Ancrenaz was interviewed about orangutans and the palm oil issue in Malaysia on the website Mongabay.

The conflict between Palm Oil Industry and the protection of wildlife  habitat is a difficult one and has led to PR campaigns on both sides. For the full article, click over to http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0116-orangutans.html.

If you would like to help protect orang-utans and elephants in the wild, join us on March 27th for our 4th Pongos Helping Pongos Auction event.

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Jan
01

Art for Orangutans by Orangutans?

Posted by in Elephant,orangutan

2008 Event Painting "I-Ching"

2008 Event Painting "I-Ching"

The Houston Zoo’s 4th Pongos Helping Pongos Art Event will be held at the G Gallery beginning at 6:00 p.m. on March 27th. This very special evening will feature over 40 individual paintings done by our orangutans, elephants, siamangs babirusa and clouded leopards. Each painting will be professionally framed thanks to our partners YolArt Framing and accompanied by conservation information, an animal artist biography and photograph. The paintings will be displayed at G Gallery in the Heights for a single night in a fine arts setting, including refreshments and stunning photographic portraits of the featured artists. This special event concludes at 8:00 p.m.

All the paintings, portraits  and photography will be sold by silent auction with all the proceeds donated to the preservation of orangutans and other animals in their natural habitat on the island of Borneo.

The benefits of this program are many. It provides Zoo animals an outlet to express their intelligence, personalities, and creative abilities. It allows them to fulfill their mission as ambassadors for their species by generating precious funds that support conservation actions on the ground and behavioral enrichment initiatives at the Zoo. At the same time, this program engages the local community, creating a deeper appreciation for the lives of all animals and inspiring a greater concern for their well-being. And all of this is achieved through the exhibition and sale of the animals’ own art work through the annual event that we call Pongos Helping Pongos. (Pongo pygmaeus is the scientific name for orangutans, so this translates to Orangutans Helping Orangutans.) 

Since 2004, Pongos Helping Pongos has raised over $100,000 for the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project and Elephant Conservation Program in Sukau, Sabah, Malaysia and almost $20,000 in support of field conservation efforts at Indonesia’s Gunung Palung National Park. Both projects are located on the island of Borneo and represent some of the last remaining habitats for wild orangutans. In addition, a portion of the the funds are applied toward continuing orangutan behavioral enrichment projects at the Houston Zoo. We are very proud to be a partner of the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Program, supporting critical research, education, and awareness programs for orangutans, elephants, and habitat protection in the region.

We look forward to hosting the best Pongos Helping Pongos event we have ever held, so call your friends and save the date on your calendar for a truly memorable evening. Come and enjoy the wine and, appetizers and join us for this unique event that supports our artistic animals and the field conservation efforts focused on their wild counterparts.

For more information or to help support this event please contact conservation@houstonzoo.org

Bornean Orangutan, Sabah, Malaysia. Photo courtesy Paul Swen. Available at 2010 event.

Bornean Orangutan, Sabah, Malaysia. Photo courtesy Paul Swen. Available at 2010 event.

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May
01

What do you know about orangutans?

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Featured

orangs-featured-200x3001The Orangutan is a fascinating ape which is in serious decline on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo – the only two places on earth they can be found in the wild. “Orangutan” in the native language means “people (orang) of the forest (utan or hutan).” Their decline is mostly due to habitat loss, development and hunting pressures. It is believed that if this rate of decline and habitat fragmentation continues, we will lose the orangutan within the next 50 years.

Out of Malaysia and Indonesia comes a long told myth about the evolution of the orangutan:

Long ago, human beings (or orangs) lived in the virgin jungles of Borneo. They stayed in groups, sharing their long houses, subsisting on plants and animals provided by Mother Nature.

Within the different groups, this peaceful way of life was however troubled by all sorts of troubles and conflicts involving treacheries, malices, gossips and other problems that are specific to our species. A peace-loving minority of orangs decided to split from the major group in order to escape the clamors of the village life and went deep into the jungle. They established a new home and lived happily for years.

More and more orangs from their former community decided to join this idyllic existence, up to a point that the newly created village became overcrowded and full with problems that follow humans at all times and places (pollution, noise, habitat destruction, cruelty and meanness). The original group decided to break up from their populations one more time and wandered far away from this place. They established themselves on the mountains where life was paradise.

Of course they didn’t stay on their own for long – more and more people joined them and troubled this peaceful existence. Fed up beyond belief, the original orangs decided that enough was enough – because they wouldn’t be able to find peace below the trees, they decided to climb up to the treetop and to settle down in the forest canopy. They also decided to not have any kind of relations with ground-dwelling orangs any more.

From this day, this group became the orang-utans, or “people of the forest”.

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