Orangutans are critically endangered. Their biggest threat is the ever growing palm oil industry. Palm oil is used in countless products, in fact is very hard to avoid even when conscientiously trying to. To grow palm oil large tracts of land are cleared, by logging or often by burning, and replaced with palm trees. These trees produce for seven years and then must be burned down, further destroying the fragile ecosystem and releasing staggering amounts green house gasses. This process is destroying Borneo and Sumatra, the only two places that Orangutans live. We were lucky enough to see them up close and in the wild. Sadly this will probably not be possible for very much longer.
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