Borneo Orangutan Populations Down 75% In 10 Years - 7,300 Left On Sumatra

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But the wedding ceremony under an overcast sky had a serious goal despite its comic overtones. A park veterinarian, Nanang Tejo Leksono, hoped Bima and Melly would mate as part of the park's captive breeding program and help offset the decline in the country's wild orangutan population. The number of orangutans living in the wild has plunged in recent years because of poaching and loss of habitat due to illegal logging and land clearing.

According to data from the Ministry of Forestry, the estimated orangutan population in Kalimantan has dropped by three-quarters, from 200,000 in 1990 to 50,000 in 2000. In Sumatra, the orangutan population is believed to be less than 7,300.

Environmentalists have called on the government to take action to save the orangutan, Asia's only great ape, which they warned could become extinct within 12 years if nothing was done. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)

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