Context
- Malaysia intends to gift orangutans to palm oil-purchasing countries as part of an initiative similar to China’s panda diplomacy.
Orangutan
- Characteristics: Orangutans are the largest arboreal mammal, spending most of their time in trees.
- They are the closest living relatives of humans and they share 96.4% of Human genes and are highly intelligent creatures.
- There are three species of Orangutan – the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli – which differ a little in appearance and behavior.
- Eating habitats : Orangutans mainly eat fruits, such as mangoes, lychees and figs, but they also feed on young leaves, flowers, insects, and even small mammals.
- Habitat and Distribution: They can occur up to 1,500m above sea level, most are found in lowland areas and prefer forests in river valleys or floodplains.
- These great apes are only found in the wild on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
- IUCN status: All three orangutan species are critically endangered.
| Palm Oil
– It’s an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of oil palm trees, having the scientific name Elaeis guineensis. – The oil palm tree is native to West and Central Africa. It also grows extensively in Malaysia and Indonesia. – Palm oil, obtained from the fruits, is used in making soaps, cosmetics, candles, biofuels, and lubricating greases and in processing tinplate and coating iron plates. – Palm kernel oil, from the seeds, is used in manufacturing such edible products as margarine, ice cream, chocolate confections, cookies, and bread, as well as many pharmaceuticals. |