A new population of the endangered Tapanuli orangutan has been discovered! Until now, we only knew of a population of around 800 individuals living in the Batang Toru forest in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. But a new group has been found — in a peat swamp about 32 km (20 mi) away.
In October last year, researchers had their first face-to-face encounter with an orangutan in the peat swamp. After a DNA sample was analyzed, they confirmed it was a new population of Tapanuli orangutans! And this September, a Mongabay journalist on a field visit documented a mother and her infant orangutan.
This is great news for the conservation of the species. However, the future of this new population, estimated at around 100 individuals, remains uncertain. They live in an unprotected area that’s being heavily deforested, so experts are pushing to protect it. But there still aren’t enough of them to keep the population going, and building a corridor between the two groups isn’t really possible. That’s why some conservationists say the best long-term plan might be to move them to a protected part of the Batang Toru forest.
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