Orangutan (infant)

In the illegal pet trade, the only way for an orangutan baby to be caught is for the mother to be shot, and the baby pried from her dead body.

1. They are found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.
2. Both species are critically endangered. In the past 60 years the population has declined by 60% with a projection of 82% over 75 years.
3. The name is derived from Malay and Indonesian words: orang meaning ‘person’ and hutan meaning ‘forest’. Orangutan, ‘person of the forest’.
4. Their habitat under threat from:
   1. forest fires
   2. fragmentation by roads
   3. the conversion of tropical forests to palm oil plantations
5. They risk:
   1. being killed to protect crops
   2. being hunted for traditional medicine
   3. being hunted with their bones secretly traded in some souvenir shops
   4. females being slaughtered so their babies can be sold as pets, many of which die without their mother’s help

Oil on canvas 100cm x 100cm x 4cm

£3,000