New Borneo orang-Utan in the Schönbrunn Tiergarten: Hope for young people!

New Borneo orang-Utan in the Schönbrunn Tiergarten: Hope for young people!

The Schönbrunn zoo has added a new member to its Borneo orangutan. A nine -year -old male moved from the Apenheul Dutch Zoo at the beginning of May. This move took place in coordination with the European conservation breeding program, after the tragic death of an almost 50-year-old male in 2023. The new orangutan will initially settle in its own area. He already has visual contact with the females and their offspring.

The first getting to know each other in the common system has so far been calm and peaceful. Tiergart director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck is optimistic and hopes that the newcomer will take care of young people in a few years as soon as the two young animals are weaned. The breeding group of the zoo already has a balanced age structure, which increases the reproductive opportunities of the orangutans.

challenges of the endangered species

In the wild, all orangutan species are threatened with extinction, especially because of the loss of their natural habitats due to human activities. The Schönbrunn Tiergarten has therefore supported the Hutan Nature Conservation project on Borneo since 2021. The project aims to create corridors between intact forest areas in order to increase the animals' chances of survival. As part of a monitoring in the Keruak game animal corridor, around 120 animal species have been recorded in the past five years, which underlines the success of re-networking.

The Cinabatangan region in Malaysian borneo, which is very threatened by palm oil plantations, houses not only orangutans, but also other endangered species such as nose monkeys, Müller gibbons, borne dwarf fans, Sunda-Nebelversar and Malay bears. The once dense rainforests have shrunk, since over 500,000 hectares were converted into palm oil plantations.

The effects of palm oil production

Palm oil production in Malaysia has risen dramatically in recent decades. In 1975, 1.3 million tons were produced, while the number increase to 17.7 million tons in 2009. As a result, 20 percent of Sabah's land is now being used for the cultivation of palm oil. This development has caused the living conditions for orangutans and other wild animals to be drastically reduced.

The animals live in small, isolated forest fragments and are therefore forced to fight food. This not only leads to an increased risk of inbreeding, but also to a rivalry among animals, which further worsens their chances of survival. The Borneo dwarf fan, the population of which, according to the IUCN red list with an estimated 1,000 individuals, is particularly concerned.

To counteract these threatening developments, was bought in 2009 with the support of IUCN NL and the local partner organization Leap 90 hectares. This country combines fragmented forest pieces and offers part of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, which represents an urgently needed protective measure against palm oil builders. By creating corridors between these fragments, animals such as elephants and orangutans can roam larger areas again and improve their chances of survival.

With these initiatives, the work is made to promote food intake and the genetic exchange between different subpopulations, which is crucial for the survival of these species.

The Schönbrunn zoo thus plays an important role in international species protection and emphasizes the importance of commitment to endangered species.

For more information on the projects and the protection of the orangutans, please visit the following pages: Krone , zoovienna , and iucn