Habitat Loss

Wood products, specifically hardwoods and other woods of the tropics, are in great demand from international markets. Because primates are primarily found in tropical regions with vast forested areas, the impact from logging on these species is particularly high. And while many forests are cut under legal government concessions to timber companies, illegal logging still occurs in areas designated as protected parks.

For instance, in 1999, the not-for-profit conservation watchdog group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) exposed massive illegal logging operations in Indonesian parks. Indonesia hosts about 80 percent of the remaining wild orangutans in the world, with one of the largest remaining populations in Tanjung Putting National Park.

ACT: Protect an acre of forest now

EIA found that the illegal logging business in Indonesia was greater than the extraction of legal timber projects. With approximately 80 percent of the orangutan's habitat already lost, illegal clearing of timber in the remaining protected areas will be devastating to surviving populations.

READ MORE: Habitat loss is also caused by roads, development projects, and fires.