Our vanishing relative

Our vanishing relative

Author: Rijksen

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-12-01

Total Pages: 471

ISBN-13: 9401090203

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The orang-utan is a superb representative of a major sector of the structure of biological diversity in Sumatra and Borneo. Conservation of the living conditions of the orang-utan implies maintaining the integrity of the entire natural ecosystem of indigenous plant and animal species known as the West Malesian rainforest, i.e. the natural tropical evergreen forests of distinctive floral composition which stretch from the isthmus of Kra, in Thailand, across peninsular West Malaysia, south and eastwards, including Sumatra, Borneo and Java. The main question behind this study is: What is the current status of the orang-utan? Or in other words: • what is the current geographical distribution range? • what have been the trends in the size of its range and numbers? • to what extent is this range covered by (a) conservation areas, (b) timher concessions (i.e. modified habitat) and (c) plans for conversion (i.e. obliteration of the habitat)? • what is the current quality of habitat in this range and what is the prospect for conservation or restoration of such habitat? • what is a plausible average density of the ape in such habitat? • what are the prospects for protection of the ape? • what should and can be clone to give the ape a chance of survival? Several actions were undertaken to find answers to these questions, and the major results are: • In Sumatra the orang-utan has a much more extensive range than was hitherto


Our Vanishing Relative

Our Vanishing Relative

Author: H.D. Rijksen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2011-04-10

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789048152391

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In the 1960s, it was believed that no more than about 4,000 orang-utans remained in the wild. Consequently, IUCN - The World Conservation Union - declared the ape an endangered species, demanding its world-wide protection. Nevertheless, the orang-utan today faces extinction because it is dependent on a rain-forest habitat that is rapidly being demolished due to human greed, and a growing human population. Rijksen was among the first to make a detailed study of the ape in the wild, emerging as an authority on orang-utan conservation. In the late 1980s he became so alarmed by local rumours of the rapid decline of wild orang-utans that he initiated the study leading to this book. Meijaard conducted the ambitious, island-spanning surveys in Borneo and Sumatra to reveal the ape's whereabouts. This is the story of their findings. It is the first comprehensive study of the ape's distribution and status based on a wealth of first-hand field data, and a frank, disturbing account of a mixture of good intentions, ignorance and greed, spelling doom for our Asian relative. Nevertheless, the authors emphasise that the orang-utan can survive. A realistic plan to save the ape, and with it thousands of unique wild animals and plants, does exist. It is the authors' hope that Our Vanishing Relative, so urgent and eloquent in its description of the deadly net of problems descending over our helpless relative, will awaken attention and empathy in order to safeguard the future of the orang-utan.


People and Wildlife, Conflict or Co-existence?

People and Wildlife, Conflict or Co-existence?

Author: Rosie Woodroffe

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-08-25

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 9781139445627

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Human-wildlife conflict is a major issue in conservation. As people encroach into natural habitats, and as conservation efforts restore wildlife to areas where they may have been absent for generations, contact between people and wild animals is growing. Some species, even the beautiful and endangered, can have serious impacts on human lives and livelihoods. Tigers kill people, elephants destroy crops and African wild dogs devastate sheep herds left unattended. Historically, people have responded to these threats by killing wildlife wherever possible, and this has led to the endangerment of many species that are difficult neighbours. The urgent need to conserve such species, however, demands coexistence of people and endangered wildlife. This book presents a variety of solutions to human-wildlife conflicts, including novel and traditional farming practices, offsetting the costs of wildlife damage through hunting and tourism, and the development of local and national policies.


Indonesian Primates

Indonesian Primates

Author: Sharon Gursky-Doyen

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-01-15

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1441915605

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Indonesia possesses the second largest primate population in the world, with over 33 different primate species. Although Brazil possesses more primate species, Indonesia outranks it in terms of its diversity of primates, ranging from prosimians (slow lorises and tarsiers), to a multitude of Old World Monkey species (macaques, langurs, proboscis moneys) to lesser apes (siamangs, gibbons) and great apes (orangutans). The primates of Indonesia are distributed throughout the archipelago. Partly in response to the number of primates distributed throughout the Indonesian archipelago, Indonesia is classified as the home of two biodiversity hotspots (Wallacea and Sundaland). In order to be classified as a hotspot, an area must have a large proportion of endemic species coupled with a high degree of threat including having lost more than 70% of its original habitat. Two areas within Indonesia meet these criteria. The tremendous diversity of primates in Indonesia, in conjunction with the conservation issues facing the primates of this region, created a need for this volume.


Primate Tourism

Primate Tourism

Author: Anne E. Russon

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1316060764

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Primate tourism is a growing phenomenon, with increasing pressure coming from several directions: the private sector, governments, and conservation agencies. At the same time, some primate sites are working to exclude or severely restrict tourism because of problems that have developed as a result. Indeed, tourism has proven costly to primates due to factors such as disease, stress, social disruption, vulnerability to poachers, and interference with rehabilitation and reintroduction. Bringing together interdisciplinary expertise in wildlife/nature tourism and primatology, experts present and discuss their accumulated experience from individual primate sites open to tourists, formal studies of primate-focused tourism, and trends in nature and wildlife tourism. Chapters offer species- and site-specific assessments, weighing conservation benefits against costs, and suggesting strategies for the development of informed guidelines for ongoing and future primate tourism ventures. Primate Tourism has been written for primatologists, conservationists and other scientists. It is also relevant to tourists and tourism professionals.


Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation

Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation

Author: Alexandra Palmer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-03-04

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 0429576633

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Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation explores how conservationists decide whether, and how, to undertake rehabilitation and reintroduction (R&R) when rescuing orphaned orangutans. The author demonstrates that exploring ethical dilemmas is crucial for understanding ongoing disagreements about how to help endangered wildlife in an era of anthropogenic extinction. Although R&R might appear an uncontroversial activity, there is considerable debate about how, and why, it ought to be practised. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research with orangutan conservation practitioners, this book examines how ethical trade-offs shape debates about R&R. For example, what if the orphan fails to learn how to be an orangutan again, after years in the company of humans? What if she is sent into the forest only to slowly starve? Would she have been better off in a cage? Could the huge cost of sending a rescued ape back to the wild be better spent on stopping deforestation in the first place? Or do we have a moral obligation to rescue the orphan regardless of cost? This book demonstrates that deconstructing ethical positions is crucial for understanding ongoing disagreements about how to help our endangered great ape kin and other wildlife. Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation is essential reading for those interested in conservation and animal welfare, animal studies, primatology, geography, environmental philosophy, and anthropology.


Climate Models

Climate Models

Author: Leonard Druyan

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2012-03-02

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 9535101358

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Climate Models offers a sampling of cutting edge research contributed by an international roster of scientists. The studies strive to improve our understanding of the physical environment for life on this planet. Each of the 14 essays presents a description of recent advances in methodologies for computer-based simulation of environmental variability. Subjects range from planetary-scale phenomena to regional ecology, from impacts of air pollution to the factors influencing floods and heat waves. The discerning reader will be rewarded with new insights concerning modern techniques for the investigation of the natural world.


Displaced Heritage

Displaced Heritage

Author: Ian Convery

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1843839636

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Considerations of the effect of trauma on heritage sites.


Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions

Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions

Author: Clement A. Tisdell

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2015-10-30

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1785362682

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The stock of the world’s biological diversity and the state of its ecosystems are major determinants of the availability of commodities, both essential and desirable, for human life. This leading-edge study provides an overarching and balanced approach to the economics of biological conservation; considering man made and natural components, and their interdependence. Recognising the deficiencies of many contemporary studies, which focus almost entirely on natural capital, Clement Tisdell utilizes the concept of heritage biological capital, including germplasm, as part of his analysis of changes in the stock of biological capital. This comprehensive synthesis casts doubt upon some propositions and policies for resource conservation recommended by eminent ecologists in areas such as GM crops and livestock husbandry as well as agroecosystems and the concept of sustainable agricultural intensification. The propositions presented are lent strength by the author’s decision to relate his analysis to pertinent contemporary institutional developments and scientific advances. The broad scope and rational scepticism with which this book has been compiled make it an ideal read for economists interested in ecological and environmental economics, natural scientists with an interest in biodiversity conservation and higher level policy makers in ecological and environmental fields.


Images of the Wildman in Southeast Asia

Images of the Wildman in Southeast Asia

Author: Gregory Forth

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2008-12-10

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1135784302

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The book examines ‘wildmen’such as Homo floresiensis and ebu gogo, images of hairy humanlike creatures known to rural villagers and other local people in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. It explores the source of these representations and their status in local systems of knowledge.