News Finding: The unexpected loss of nearly 100,000 Bornean orangutans from intact forests in Kalimantan between 1999 and 2015 indicates that habitat loss alone is not driving this critically endangered species' declines.
Paper Finding: The impacts on wildlife inhabiting Borneo, where air pollution was 15 times worse than that in Singapore, are likely to be much more severe and could be longer-lasting .
News Context: The fires were worse in 2015 because of a strong El Nino effect, which brought with it a severe drought. The unexpected loss of nearly 100,000 Bornean orangutans from intact forests in Kalimantan between 1999 and 2015 indicates that habitat loss alone is not driving this critically endangered species' declines. Increasingly frequent exposure to toxic smoke could have severe consequences for orangutans, other animals and people, and this research highlights the urgent need to understand the long-term and indirect impacts of Indonesia's peatland fires, beyond the immediate loss of forests and their inhabitants.
Paper Context: Our findings complement a recent study conducted in Singapore, where ecological community acoustic activity was significantly reduced during the 2015 haze produced by Indonesia's peatland fires, exhibiting only partial recovery 16 weeks after the smoke had dissipated . The impacts on wildlife inhabiting Borneo, where air pollution was 15 times worse than that in Singapore, are likely to be much more severe and could be longer-lasting . The unexpected loss of an estimated 93,000 Bornean orangutans from intact forests in Kalimantan between 1999 and 2015 indicates that drivers independent of land-use change are contributing to their population declines .