A male Sumatran Orangutan, Pongo abelii, has been found with multiple injuries by staff from the Indonesian Natural Resources Conservation Agency while carrying out a patrol in the South Aceh District of Aceh Province, on the island of Sumatra on Thursday 28 November 2019. The Ape, who has been named Paguh by rescuers, was found to have 24 air rifles pellets in his body, and to have been blinded in both eyes. He was taken to the Batu Mbelin Sibolangit Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, run by the Lestari Ecosystem Foundation and PanEco Foundation - Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, where he was treated for his injuries; he is expected to survive, but not to be able to return to the wild.
A male Orangutan named Pugeh who was rescued after being blinded with airgun pellets last week. EPA.
The Sumatran Orangutan is considered to be Critically Endangered under the terms of the the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species,with less than 14 000 individuals surviving in the wild, in a total area of 16 775 km² of forest. They are considered to be at threat from habitat loss and fragmentation, as a result of Indonesia's rapidly expanding Human population and associated development projects, such as mining, road building, and plantation forestry, as well as more directly from poaching.
X-ray image of Paguh showing airgun pellets within his head. EPA.
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