A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time crossing a man-made canopy bridge constructed to help the endangered animals bypass a tarred road on the Indonesian island, an NGO said Sunday.
Conservation group Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, in partnership with the UK-based charity Sumatra Orangutan Society (SOS) and local authorities, built five canopy bridges in the North Sumatra province in 2024, after a road that serves as a lifeline for remote communities had been expanded, cutting through the rainforest.
The first Sumatran orangutan has now been caught on camera using one of the hanging bridges, SOS said in a statement sent to AFP Sunday.
While other species including gibbons and long-tailed macaques have also been spotted crossing there, "this is a world first for Sumatran orangutans," it added.
The bridge's use by the orangutan was a "huge milestone for conservation", SOS chief executive Helen Buckland said.
"These canopy bridges demonstrate that human development and wildlife don't have to be at odds. Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the most effective," Buckland added.
The road is an important social and economic link for communities in Sumatra's Pakpak Bharat district.
But it has also split a population of some 350 orangutans, SOS said.
Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director at Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, said habitat fragmentation was "one of the greatest challenges in contemporary conservation".
He said he hoped canopy bridges would become a "standard feature" of infrastructure planning across the region.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies Sumatran orangutans, endemic to the island of Sumatra, as critically endangered, with just over 13,587 individuals at the last count.
Their decline is blamed on habitat loss and fragmentation as well as illegal hunting.
In the wild, orangutans are found only on Sumatra and the nearby island of Borneo, which is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
mrc/mlr/ami
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.