The
Sanctuary
Papers
Text By Purva VariyarMore at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com | Natural History
Seventh
Great Ape
Little
Understood Gr asslands
Wastelands. That is the name grasslands often go by
in several countries including India. They are subject to
destruction, degradation and, or conversion, usually without
much resistance from policy makers and locals. That is because
these rich ecosystems are little understood and are thought to
be less important and sometimes worthless tracts of land. So
much so that at the launch of the Transformation of the African
Savannah Initiative, the president of the African Development
Bank (AfDB) put forth a proposal for converting nearly two
million hectares of savannah in several African countries into
farmlands to feed the rocketing human population. Crops such
as maize and soybeans will be cultivated here and livestock
will graze here. But, at a severe cost. These grasslands hold
under their soil tons of carbon. Cultivation here would result
in release of all this into the atmosphere. Apart from curbing
climate change, Africa’s grasslands are home to the Big Five
(elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards and buffaloes) and various
other creatures great and small. These animals not only are
a crucial part of the ecosystem, but bring in tourism worth
billions to the African countries. For these reasons and more,
please let grasslands be grasslands.,,,
plplplppppplleaeaeaeeseseseseeeelllllleteteeteetettgggggrrrarraassssssslalalalallllaaandndndndddddds ssssbebebebebeb gggrararasssssssslalallandndndndddds.s.s.sOur close, endangered cousins, the orangutans, found on
the Sumatran and Bornean islands of Indonesia have been
keeping a big secret. A whole new species of the great ape
has been roaming amongst them.
As recently as November 2017, a third, new species
of orangutan Pongo tapanuliensis was identifi ed on the
Sumatran island, with a small population living in the
Batang Toru forest. Their specialised habitat lies to the
south of the orangutans’ Sumataran range. They showed
stark genetic differences as well as skeletal ones including
different tooth size. P. tapanuliensis is now seventh in
the list of the world’s great apes and the third species of
orangutans to have been discovered so far!
But this new species is in as much trouble as the other
two orangutan species – Sumatran and Bornean. Their
already fragmented habitats are being further destroyed
and degraded for small scale agriculture, mining and
monoculture plantations. Hunting too is a huge threat.
With only a small population of 800 individuals, if urgent
conservation measures are not initiated, this rare species of
ape will be gone as suddenly as it ‘appeared’.