Birthday boy takes cake
DID somebody say cake?
Sumatran orang-utan Menyaru enjoyed a fruitcake at Melbourne Zoo yesterday to celebrate his ninth birthday.
His father Santan and 18-month-old sister Dewi joined in the celebrations — but their cousins in the forests of northern Sumatra are not so lucky.
Fires are raging through the Tripa peat forest in Aceh as companies break Indonesian law to clear land to make way for palm oil plantations.
Zoos Victoria conservation director Rachel Lowry said orang-utan numbers were dropping as they lost their rainforest habitat.
“Palm oil is in at least 50 per cent of the manufactured foods we buy, but in most cases we don’t know that because it is currently legal to label it as vegetable oil,” she said. “We want that to change, so we as consumers will be able to exercise the right to choose products with full knowledge of the ingredients included.”
To mark Menyaru’s birthday, Zoos Victoria provided funds to buy two motorbikes for conservationists helping injured or orphaned orang-utans in Tripa.
Net link: zoo.org.au/palmoil
Related articles
- Only 200 Orang Utans Left At Rawa Tripa (endoftheicons.wordpress.com)
- Sumatra burns in palm oil rush (smh.com.au)
- Illegal Indonesian fires threaten great apes (smh.com.au)
