Thursday, May 28, 2009

Special bridge at the Lower Kinabatangan Sanctuary to help orangutans survive


Kota Kinabalu: Wildlife activists have built a treetop bridge in an orangutan sanctuary to help the endangered apes find new mates and prevent inbreeding.

The 43-metre suspension bridge was completed last month at the Lower Kinabatangan Sanctuary in the east coast.

"But this is a temporary measure. In the long run, we must create forest corridors for orangutans and other animals to move about," said Nobuo Nakanishi from the Borneo Conservation Trust Japan, which helped fund the project.

Orangutans are unable to swim and thus the bridge idea to help them get across rivers in search of food.

Orangutan habitats in Malaysia and Indonesia have been decimated as their jungle habitats are cleared by logging and to make way for plantations, putting them at risk of inbreeding as they are split into smaller populations.

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