Indonesia fires threaten critically endangered orangutan: IUCN

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Add as preferred source Fires are currently burning within habitats containing 52 percent of Borneo's orangutan population. Wildfires that tore through Indonesian Borneo's vast tropical forests have increased pressure on critically endangered Bornean orangutans, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said Saturday.

Indonesia has been battling fires for weeks in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, sending suffocating haze across the islands and neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Fires are burning in habitats containing 52% of Borneo's orangutan population, including 13 of the 20 largest remaining populations, the IUCN said.

"Fire and smoke exposure impose measurable physiological, behavioral and ecological costs on orangutans in peat forest habitats," the conservation network said.