Kicking Your Head to Get Rid of a Headache: Palm Oil & the Imminent Extinction of the Orangutan

Extract

Borneo~Homeless, semi-paralyzed and blind in one eye, Montana faces an uncertain future. Even if his friends find somewhere for him to live, the 15-year-old has been weakened by years in assisted care. The lethal dangers of readjustment in his natural home include men like those who shot him out of a tree when he was a baby. But for the source of the greatest threat to Montana's existence, say his supporters, look no further than your food cupboard.

The orangutan, the largest tree-living mammal on the planet, is in crisis. Once a mighty orange army of 300,000 that swung through the dense forests of South East Asia, conservationists say the population has dwindled to fewer than 25,000 concentrated on the two Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. There, they cling precariously to existence on government protected nature reserves under siege by developers of one of the world's most lucrative commodities: palm oil.