Sumatran orangutan in the Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Nedhuggning av skog har orsakat problem för orangutangen. Men nu kommer vissa positiva nyheter från Sumatra. Det är dubbelt så många orangutanger som man tidigare trott på Sumatra.

• An international team of researchers estimates the total number of Sumatran orangutan to be close to 14,600 – over twice as many as the previously accepted count of 6,600.

• The group used a series of nest decay surveys to estimate densities across the Indonesian island.

• They found individuals in new areas once thought devoid of orangutans, consistently encountered them at higher elevations, and found populations in degraded forests not included in earlier studies.