HELLO! WELCOME TO COLCHESTER ZOO

ZOO NEWS

There's always a new story to tell at Colchester Zoo, from welcoming new arrivals, to exciting things to see and discover.

Bornean orangutan moves into critically endangered category

in Action for the Wild & UmPhafa
  • Font size: Larger Smaller
  • Hits: 4238
  • Print

This year Colchester Zoo is raising awareness of the plight of great apes in the wild through our ‘Going Ape for Conservation’ campaign. Raising awareness of the issues these species face in the wild is now more important than ever as the Bornean orangutan has recently been moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered – joining the Sumatran Orangutans in the highest risk category the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) assigns.

Bornean orangutan populations are declining as the forests they live in are being turned into palm oil, rubber or paper plantations and others are killed by humans.

“As orangutans are hunted and pushed out of their habitats, losses to this slow-breeding species are enormous and will be extremely difficult to reverse.” says Erik Meijaard, one of the assessors of the species, member of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and director of Borneo Futures – an initiative dedicated to preserving Borneo’s biodiversity.

A full update of the IUCN Red List, including new assessments of other species, will be announced at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016 in Hawaii in September.

You can find out more about the work being done to help this species by checking out Colchester Zoo’s charity, Action for the Wild and the projects it supports.

OPENING TIMES

5.00pm close or dusk if earlier
Last admission to zoo grounds at 4.00pm

Click here for further closing times

 

upcoming events
March 2024
Sun mon tue wed thu fri sat
25 26 27 28 29 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 1 2 3 4 5 6

feature-read-review