Abstract
We investigated why orangutans are being killed in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and the role of conflict in these killings. Based on an analysis of interview data from over 5,000 respondents in over 450 villages, we also assessed the socio-ecological factors associated with conflict and non-conflict killings. Most respondents never kill orangutans. Those who reported having personally killed an orangutan primarily did so for non-conflict reasons; for example, 56% of these respondents said that the reason they had killed an orangutan was to eat it. Of the conflict-related reasons for killing, the most common reasons orangutans were killed was fear of orangutans or in self-defence. A similar pattern was evident among reports of orangutan killing by other people in the villages. Regression analyses indicated that religion and the percentage of intact forest around villages were the strongest socio-ecological predictors of whether orangutans were killed for conflict or non-conflict related reasons. Our data indicate that between 44,170 and 66,570 orangutans were killed in Kalimantan within the respondents’ active hunting lifetimes: between 12,690 and 29,024 for conflict reasons (95%CI) and between 26,361 and 41,688 for non-conflict reasons (95% CI). These findings confirm that habitat protection alone will not ensure the survival of orangutans in Indonesian Borneo, and that effective reduction of orangutan killings is urgently needed.
Highlights
Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, is one of the last natural refuges of the orangutan, but it is a tenuous existence for this iconic species
Human population pressure and agricultural expansion has led to substantial forest clearing and degradation on Borneo and Sumatra, which has in turn reduced orangutan habitat and food sources
Our survey was designed to sample the population of villagers who knew about orangutans
Summary
Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, is one of the last natural refuges of the orangutan, but it is a tenuous existence for this iconic species. Human population pressure and agricultural expansion has led to substantial forest clearing and degradation on Borneo and Sumatra, which has in turn reduced orangutan habitat and food sources. Beyond the direct effects of forest loss on orangutan survival and reproduction, there is a well-established argument that loss of habitat and food sources has increased humanorangutan contact and conflict, leading to conflict-motivated killing by humans [3,4,5]. The Indonesian and Malaysian governments, the legally responsible agents for Sumatran and Bornean orangutans, are aware of the links between habitat loss, increasing human-orangutan conflicts, and declining orangutan populations, and have developed policies to counteract them (e.g., [6]), but these have so far failed to effectively reduce the occurrence of conflict. Industry groups and communities who operate, live or work close to orangutan habitat are aware that orangutans can cause damage to crops [7,8], but coherent long-term strategies have yet to be developed and implemented to prevent conflict-motivated killings of orangutans
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