A cyclone that brought catastrophic flooding and devastating landslides to Indonesia wiped out more than 7% of the global population of the world’s rarest great apes, a new study has found. The cyclone, known as Cyclone Senyar, slammed into the Indonesian island of Sumatra last November, killing nearly 60 of the 800 Tapanuli orangutans remaining in the wild.

Conservation Efforts

The study scientists said the cyclone has pushed these critically endangered orangutans closer to extinction. Climate change-fueled extreme weather is adding to the risks the orangutans already face as the forests they live in are cleared for roads, farming, and industry. The Indonesian government must enforce stronger conservation measures to protect the endangered species.

The researchers used satellite data to identify more than 20,000 acres of landslide scars, which wiped out nearly 12% of forest cover in the region. The landslides happened as extremely heavy rainfall saturated the ground, causing parts of the hillside to suddenly break away. Any orangutans had very little time to escape.

The analysis found 58 Tapanuli orangutans were killed, accounting for 11% of the local population and 7% of the total global population. These numbers may be conservative, as the scientists used estimates of population density. The study also did not account for other cyclone-related threats such as reduced food availability for surviving orangutans or destruction of forest canopy.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.