Research Proposal - Orangutans

Orangutan

Before I took this class, I had never known about the seriousness of environmental problems. Honestly, I had never even thought about the environmental problems. The mankind of today is faced with the extinction of a variety of species, and it has threatened not only wild animals but also human beings. In other words, endangered animals caused by activities of human beings have been exponentially increasing, and eventually, it may affect human beings. According to the Honolulu Zoo (n.d., para.1), “modern orangutans originated during the Pleistocene period, 2 million to 100,000 years ago. They now face extinction. At the turn of the last century around 315,000 orangutans existed in the wild. Orangutan numbers are now down by 92% compared with a century ago and have been reduced by half in Northern Sumatra between 1993 and 2000.” And the Orangutan Conservancy estimates that there are 54,000 Bornean orangutnas and only 6,600 Sumatran orangutans which stay behind in the wild (E Magazine, 2009). According to Ruffin (2009), orangutans are among our closest relatives. That is, because the orangutan looks very much like a human being, orangutans have a mental faculty that knows how to live as a human being. Although they have such an ability, they are dying by destruction. If they can’t survive, it means that people are also influenced by this same condition. Eventually, human beings also could died. Although human beings and orangutans are similar, people have threatened them by depending on palm oil plantations. In other words, people are killing their habitat by logging illegally. Moreover, people are trading them as pets. This phenomenon causes orangutans to become orphans. Therefore, some people, especially Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS), are working to prevent the extinction of the orangutan, as well as saying that people have to stop threatening them (Drescher-Neilsen, 2009). On the other hand, other people say that because many communities in Borneo depend on the palm oil, people can’t condemn the industry (Drescher-Neilsen, 2009).

In my paper, I plan on writing about the necessity of protecting orangutans. People should start to solve the fundamental problems causing the extermination of orangutans. First, the orangutans should be protected because their extermination might cause more serious destruction of the ecosystem. Second, people could live with alternative energy without destroying the rainforest. Finally, orangutans are the most similar animal with mankind.

I have found various articles about problems of orangutans. In addition, I have found a lot of arguments as to why they face extinction, although its solutions have not been found yet. I still need to find an article which explains what people have to do for protecting orangutans.

Reference
Abrams, P. (2009, February 16). Winning the economic argument: show opponents this graph, and ask them to explain. Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved May, 30, 2009, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/winning-the-economic-argu_b_167301.html.

Christian Science Monitor. (2009, May 28). Earth Talk: Orangutans’ homes in the trees are threatened. CSmoniter.com Retrieved May 30, 2009,from http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/05/28/earth-talk-orangutans-homes-in-the-trees-are-threatened/.

Drescher-Neilsen, L. (2009, May 1). This environmental destruction amounts to orangutan genocide; Comment. The Independent. Retrieved May 7, 2009, from LexisNexis.

Garcia C. (2009, February 29). Book Imagines World Without Humans. The Korean Times. Retrieved May 30,2009, from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2009/05/142_19855.html.

Orangutan. (n.d.). Honoluluzoo. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.honoluluzoo.org/orangutan.htm.

Ruffin, R. (2007, October 18). Keep DMZ a Place Of Peace. The Korean Times. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2007/10/137_12129.html.

Sejeong, K. (2009, May 3). Indonesia Campaigning for Orangutans. The Korean Times. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/06/176_44254.html.