Orangutan numbers 減少（する） as much as 30% in Malaysian palm oil 広い地所 forests- WWF
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Reuters) - Orangutan 全住民s in forest patches 設立する in oil palm 広い地所s in the eastern Malaysian 明言する／公表する of Sabah fell as much as 30% in 15 years, but the 全体にわたる 全住民 of the 種類 in the area is stable, World Wide 基金 for Nature (WWF) said.
WWF's findings, which it says are the result of the most 集中的な 調査する ever done on any 広大な／多数の／重要な ape in the world, show that orangutan numbers fell by 30% and 15% それぞれ in Kulamba and Tabin, in eastern Sabah, between 2002 and 2017.
Orangutans are 設立する in the rainforests of Borneo, where Sabah lies, and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
At least 650 orangutans were lost in 保護するd areas of Sabah's eastern lowlands between 2002 and 2017, WWF said. The 全体にわたる 全住民 of orangutans in Sabah remained 安定した at around 11,000.
"While the orangutan 全住民 has stabilised in large forest areas, their numbers 拒絶する／低下するd in forest patches within oil palm landscapes of the eastern lowlands of Sabah," WWF said in a 声明.
"The monoculture nature of oil palm 農園s means that they tend not to support 種類 that are 扶養家族 on forest 環境 like the orangutan."
But forest patches within 農園 landscapes 許すd orangutans to travel between forested areas and were 重要な to their 生き残り, 特に in the lowlands of Sabah, said Augustine Tuuga, director of Sabah 野性生物 Department.
Malaysia relies on palm oil - a 商品／必需品 used in everything from chocolate spread to lipstick - for billions of dollars in foreign 交流 収入s and hundreds of thousands of 職業s. It is the Southeast Asian country's largest 農業の 刈る and 輸出（する）.
Malaysia, the world's second-largest grower of palm oil after Indonesia, counts Sabah as its 最高の，を越す producing 明言する／公表する.
The palm oil 産業 has 原因（となる）d 普及した 森林伐採 over the years as land is （疑いを）晴らすd, often by ひどく 汚染するing 削除する and 燃やす practices, to make w ay for new 広い地所s. (報告（する）／憶測ing by Emily Chow Editing by Joe Brock and Nick Macfie)
