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The Orangutans of the Swamps of Aceh Province

Unique and extraordinary, the orangutans of the Kluet swamp in Aceh have been regularly observed using tools made from branches to extricate food from holes in trees, bee's nests and the well protected Neesia fruits. This kind of behaviour has never been seen in orangutans from other areas. Besides their use of tools, the orangutans of the Aceh swamps are also found in very high population densities. It is believed that this may be due to the high food productivity of the swamp forest supporting high numbers of orangutans, which in turn has created social groupings. This is unheard of in Borneo where orangutans are usually regarded as solitary. The populations of these unique creatures have been severely hit by partial logging of their habitat. Even prior to the illegal logging onslaught breaking out in May it was estimated that only 49% of the original habitat remains and only 48% of the estimated number of orangutans. In total, only around 2,500 orangutans are believed to remain in the three swamp areas of Aceh. With the current logging activities this number could be much less. Until recently the Kluet and Singkil swamps were the last two intact swamps in the whole ecosystem. Illegal logging activities have now rapidly degraded these swamps as well. Globally, the ecological significance of these areas is very high. About 80% of the world's freshwater peat swamps are in Indonesia and already about 80% of these have been lost. The importance of these swamps to orangutan conservation cannot be under-estimated. Orangutan population density maps of the area show the highest concentrations to occur where the three swamps are found. If the logging is allowed to continue, the majority of the orangutan population will rapidly disappear, only remaining in much lower densities on higher land.

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