The Last Orangutan Eden

The Last Orangutan Eden
  Ecologist Chris Morgan visits endangered orangutans in Northern Sumatra. (53:10)  

 

Ecologist Chris Morgan travels to the jungles of Northern Sumatra to document the work being done to save its population of wild orangutans. Asia’s most intelligent ape once roamed across the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, but today, fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. The film cites rapid deforestation — clearing the land for vast palm oil plantations — as the chief reason for the species’ declining population.



But as Morgan shows, conservationists are trying to reverse that trend by teaching orphaned orangs the survival skills they’ll need for release back into the jungle. He also accompanies researchers deep into a remote and protected peat swamp forest to study wild orangutans up close to learn about their culture and behavior.