JAKARTA \u2013 A Sumatran orang utan has been filmed for the first time crossing a man-made canopy bridge constructed to help the endangered animals bypass a tarred road on the Indonesian island, a non-governmental organisation said on April 26.<\/p>\n
Conservation group Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, in partnership with the UK-based charity Sumatra Orangutan Society (SOS) and the local authorities, built five canopy bridges in the North Sumatra province in 2024, after a road that serves as a lifeline for remote communities had been expanded, cutting through the rainforest.<\/p>\n
The first Sumatran orang utan has now been caught on camera using one of the hanging bridges, SOS said in a statement sent to AFP on April 26.<\/p>\n
While other species including gibbons and long-tailed macaques have also been spotted crossing there, \u201cthis is a world first for Sumatran orang utans\u201d, it added.<\/p>\n
The bridge\u2019s use by the orang utan was a \u201chuge milestone for conservation\u201d, SOS chief executive Helen Buckland said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese canopy bridges demonstrate that human development and wildlife don\u2019t have to be at odds. Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the most effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The road is an important social and economic link for communities in Sumatra\u2019s Pakpak Bharat district.<\/p>\n
But it has also split a population of some 350 orang utans, SOS said.<\/p>\n
Mr Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director at Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, said that habitat fragmentation was \u201cone of the greatest challenges in contemporary conservation\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said he hoped canopy bridges would become a \u201cstandard feature\u201d of infrastructure planning across the region.<\/p>\n
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies Sumatran orang utans, endemic to the island of Sumatra, as critically endangered.<\/p>\n
Their decline is blamed on habitat loss and fragmentation as well as illegal hunting.<\/p>\n