It really is time that Asian governments stepped up to the plate and started to protect wild species in their countries. The Indonesian and Malaysian governments must take steps to protect the forests in their countries because they are being destroyed by commercial organisations and in turn this destroys the chance of survival of the orangutan, one of the most iconic species on the planet.
Alan Knight, the chief executive of the conservationist group International Animal Rescue believes that unless urgent steps are taken by the authorities in these countries the orangutan will be extinct within 10 years. He says that they are on the precipice of extinction. What does it take for government to act?
The destruction of habitat, mainly forests, and I am referring to virgin forests, is probably the prime reason for the endangerment of iconic wild species, indeed all land animal species. There are many forest dwelling wild cat species such as the Bay cat and the African golden cat. The former lives in Borneo and the latter lives on the African continent.
If you destroy the forests you destroy them. The great forests of Borneo have been largely destroyed already and big business won’t stop until it’s all gone. They don’t care about the future. They don’t care that if they make animals extinct in the wild our future children will only see them in zoos.
I also blame the West not putting enough pressure on governments in the East to snap out of a deep-rooted poor attitude about wildlife conservation. It’s a state of despair for people who are concerned about conservation.
