2A+Endangered+Orangutans

media type="file" key="PhotoStory2aorangutansKate,Ashely,Kyra.wmv" width="300" height="300" // Southeast Asian Rainforests // Plants · Bengal bamboo- common name is Calcutta Cane/ often an undergrowth or found in scattered patches/ grows inch temps. of 40 and 100 degrees F/ a rain forest gets around 100 in of rain a year/ grow from 40-80 feet tall and 3 inches in diameter at maturity/ life span is from 25-40 years/ is not a tree or shrub~ a grass/ reduces soil erosion/ suck up water that could cause floods/ a great shelter for many animals · Durian- common name is Civet Fruit/ one of Asia’s most ancient and primitive trees/ carries large odoriferous fruits that come from its trunk and main branches/ thought to rely on animals to disperse seeds by luring them with the sweet smells that surround the seed~ the animal then carries the seed far away from its parent and deposits encased in its own fertilizer (a.k.a you know what)/ lifespan of 80-150 years~ supposedly only die if cut down by man or blown down in storm Insects · Leaf Cutter Ant- 41 species/ a non generic name belonging to the leaf-chewing ants of the genera //Atta// and //Acromyrmex/// tropical, fungus-growing ants live in South and Central America and parts of the southern United States Animals · Bengal Tiger- base color is orange, brown, and white with long black stripes/ weigh up to 575 pounds/ it’s cousin the Siberian Tiger is the largest/ body is broad with slender legs/ fine, silky fur/ sneaky and quiet/ the cubs look like parents and can grow up to ten feet long and three feet tall/ lives in Sundarban regions of Bangladesh, China, India, Siberia, and Indonesia/ mature at age five and lives about fifteen years/ mats at any time of year and normally has a litter of four cubs, the cubs begin hunting with their mother at eighteen months and the gestation period is about three months and ten days/ carnivore- eats boars, wild oxen, monkey, and other animals/can catch big animals but prefers young or old because they’re slower/ nocturnal and greatly fear/ help balance the food web by eating herbivore
 * __ Orangutans/ Biotic Factors __** **: organisms and their role (producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, decomposer, etc)**

**__ Orangutans/ Abiotic Factors: __**** the sunlight, temperature, climate, rainfall, landforms, ect. ** · Southeast Asia has unchangeable temperatures, high humidity and a lot of rainfall. The average temperature per year is 80° F. The climate is very humid and sticky because Southeast Asia is surrounded by oceans. · The average humidity is from 70 to 90 %. The annual precipitation is heavy; 60 to 100 and over inches. · The latitude range of this climate is 16° S to 20° N latitude, and the longitude range is 95° to 130° E. · Rainfall is heavy in all months. The total annual rainfall is often more than 250 cm. (100 in.). There are seasonal differences in monthly rainfall but temperatures of 27°C (80°F) mostly stay the same. Humidity is between 77 and 88%. · High surface heat and humidity cause cumulus clouds to form early in the afternoons almost every day. · The climates on eastern sides of continents are influenced by maritime tropical air masses. These air masses flow out from the moist western sides of oceanic high-pressure cells, and bring lots of summer rainfall. The summers are warm and very humid. It also rains a lot in the winter v Average temperature: 18 °C (°F) v Annual Precipitation: 262 cm. (103 in.) v Latitude Range: 10° S to 25 ° N v Global Position: Amazon Basin; Congo Basin of equatorial Africa; East Indies, from Sumatra to New Guinea.

I bet your asking right now, how can we save the orangutan form all the threats? We live so far away from the southeast rainforest, how can we help this gorgeous animal? Yes, you can help the orangutan and you don’t have to go to the southeast rainforest to do so. How? You might ask. It’s easy. First, the rainforest is being destroyed, as you know, so you can help save the rainforest by…it’s so simple…..REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE! Reduce reuse recycle is something you can do right at home! One thing you can do is turn off your lights when you leave the room, REDUSE! Another is that you could buy a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one, REUSE! Last one, you can recycle old newspapers and other pieces of paper, RECYCLE! Also, and this might be even simpler then reduce reuse recycle, don’t buy orangutans as pets! They like I much better in the rainforest. Lastly, don’t eat orangutans! Chocolate cake taste so much better! I hope that you will follow these rules and help make a difference to the orangutan! ** Threats ** Orangutans’ biggest threat is humans because: **Habitat loss: ** Uncontrolled wild fires present a grave threat to the Orangutans. Thousands of fires occurred mainly in central and west Kalimantan and southern Sumatra. Two million hectares of land were burnt in Indonesia in 1997. They are losing their homes because of the growing needs of humans. There is a much higher incidence of fire in logged areas than in the natural forest. Thousands of hectares of land were also affected in Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia. Another major problem is that these animals are still being killed for food! Who is responsible for this problem, you guessed it, humans. Orangutans are also hunted in retaliation when they move into agricultural areas and destroy crops. This occurs most often in times of environmental stress, when orangutans can't find the food they need in the forest. As a result of recent fires, there have been reports of local hunting pressure. Because of ensuing food shortages, the species has become an easy target for hunters. There are no cultural rules against eating orangutans and they are large and slow targets. Females in particular, are most often hunted. If they catch a female with their offspring, the baby is often kept as pets. At the same time, there has been an increase in orangutan skulls in local towns. The pet trade for the orangutan is another major problem. Between 1985 and 1990, an estimated 1,000 orangutans may have been imported into Taiwan for the pet trade. It is thought that for each orangutan reaching Taiwan, as many as three to five additional animals die in the process.
 * Hunting: **
 * Illegal trade**

Both live and dead orangutans are reported in Kalimantan where they are put up for trade. Orangutan skulls can fetch up to US$70 in towns. Recent enforcement of the law in Taiwan has reduced the importation of orangutans, but the trade remains a threat in Indonesia where there is still demand for orangutans as pets. Information for “Threats” is found at http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/great_apes/orangutans/orangutans_threats/ The orangutan is very important to its rainforest ecosystem. If the orangutan dies off then the food chain will take effect by it. The food chain will have this big gap that the orangutan needs to fill. Look at it this way, orangutans eat mostly fruit and if there are no more orangutans to eat the fruit, it will become over populated. 90% of orangutans diet is fruit, one fruit that the orangutan eats is the durian. Durians are a foul smelling fruit, but the orangutans love them! If there are no more orangutans to eat the durian, and no other animal will eat it, then durians will become over populated. Another importance is that the orangutan, like many other fruit eating animals, is important propagators of tropical plants. This means that, many fruit seedlings sprout only after having passed through an animal’s digestive system. Therefore, orangutans have a very important ecological role as seed dispersers in their rainforest environment and affect forest regeneration and plant. Information for “Importance of Ecosystem” was found at: http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/orangutan/diet.htm
 * Importance of Ecosystem**



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