Un video girato in Indonesia mostra la disperata reazione di un orango che prova a fermare a mani nude un bulldozer che sta devastando il suo habitat.
The scene is heartbreaking and a moving display of rebellion at the same time. The video shows an orangutan that refuses to leave its tree (even if already cut down) and fights bear-handed against the bulldozer in order to stop the metal blade that is cutting down its forest. The battle is evidently unfair. The orangutan falls from the tree and tries to hide from people surrounding him.
The incident took place in the Sungai Putri forest in Borneo, Indonesia, back in 2013 but the volunteers of the NGO International Animal Rescue only decided to release it on 5 June 2018. The orangutan has been brought to safety by the volunteers, but its home has been destroyed.
Even if the fearless resistance of the orangutan could appear extraordinary, the plight of these primates continues happening each and every day. “Unfortunately, scenes like this are becoming more and more frequent in Indonesia. Deforestation has caused the orangutan population to plummet; habitats are destroyed and orangutans are left to starve and die.”
According to WWF, the world’s population of orangutans has halved over the past 60 years, while 55 per cent of their habitat have been destroyed over the past 20 years. Studies show that between 1999 and 2015 more than 10,000 orangutans have died in Borneo and the island’s population has dramatically dropped. The main cause is the destruction of forests and the overexploitation of natural resources. An increasing number of areas once covered by verdant rain forests are now home to sterile intensive monocultures, especially for the production of palm oil. The world of these peaceful anthropomorphic apes, which mainly live on trees, is literally disappearing.