Big Brother in Malaysia tracks orangutans with micro-chip implants

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Life With Big Brother........

Big Brother in Malaysia tracks orangutans with micro-chip implants*

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (AFP) Nov 24, 2009

Malaysian wildlife authorities are using electronic implants to keep
track of orangutans in a bid to protect the endangered apes after they
are freed into the wild, an official said Tuesday.

Laurentius Ambu, wildlife department head in Sabah state on Borneo
island, said three orangutans had coin-sized transmitters implanted in
their necks in September.

"These are rescued orangutans. Eventually they will be reintroduced into
the wild and we would like to monitor their movement, to know how they
are doing in the forests," he told AFP.

"We would like to ensure the orangutans are safe."

The three chosen orangutans now live in a sanctuary in Sabah that houses
about 250 orangutans in all.

Laurentius said the department aims to gradually install the transmitter
on more orangutans in the state, which has about 11,000 of the primates.

Experts say there are about 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the
wild, 80 percent of them in Indonesia and the rest in Malaysian's
eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island.

A 2007 assessment by the United Nations Environment Program warned that
orangutans would be virtually eliminated in the wild within two decades
if current rates of deforestation continue.

Orangutan habitats in Malaysia and Indonesia are disappearing as their
jungle homes are cleared for logging and to make way for plantations.