We often get feelings of outrage when we hear of cases of animal cruelty, and of course, rightly so. However, while there are still harrowing cases that make the news, we cannot deny that there has been massive progress in the enforcement of animal rights.
Equally, education has played its part, and our youngsters do have a greater propensity to become animal lovers. This is thanks to the hands on approaches by NGOs as well as the Animal Welfare Department.
But when one hears of what goes on in other parts of the world, it is hard not to recoil in disgust.
The latest story of mankind’s terrible predilection of wiping species from the earth, is to be found in Indonesia.
Two Indonesian plantation workers have been arrested for allegedly killing at least 20 endangered orangutans and proboscis monkeys as a means of pest control.
The two are understood to have admitted to chasing the creatures down with dogs, then shooting, stabbing or hacking them to death with machetes.
The men allegedly told authorities that the owners of several palm oil plantations on Borneo island, eager to protect lucrative crops from being raided, offered $100 for every orangutan killed and $20 for every long-nosed proboscis monkey.
Indonesia is home to 90% of the orangutans left in the wild. It has lost half of its rain forests in the last half century in its rush to supply the world with timber, pulp, paper and, more recently, palm oil.
The remaining 50,000 to 60,000 apes live in scattered, degraded forests, putting them in frequent, and often deadly, conflict with humans.
In fact, a study published this month in the journal PLoS One said villagers in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, admitted to slaughtering at least 750 orangutans over a year-long period — a figure much higher than previously thought. Some were killed to protect crops, others because villagers thought the animals were dangerous. A much smaller number were hunted for their meat, the survey showed.
“The simple conclusion is that orangutans will be hunted to extinction unless someone stops the killings,” said Erik Meijaard, main author of the study.
This is not about stray dogs and cats, this is about the systematic extermination of a species.
One fails to comprehend how we can talk about a charter of rights for primates, our closest relatives, then go on to allow the killing of such intelligent creatures. And here’s the worst part of it, if you subscribe to the modern way of life, then we, yes all of us, are part of it. Closing your eyes and thinking of it as a land far away does not excuse us. Did you know that primates can scream, both out of fear as well as pain?