Heartbreaking moment for animal lovers: desperate orangutan tries to fight a digger to save his home

Hi there my Steemit friends and followers!

Today, I will skip the animalphotography contest as there is something else I want to share with you.

The news come from the animal kingdom too but unfortunately, it lacks the heartwarming feel of all those irresistible shots of cute furry creatures. What I want to show you today is actually the very opposite. It is a harrowing footage that fully exposes the agonizing consequences of the human exploitation of the Mother Nature.

Source of video: Youtube

As you can see in the video, this desperate orangutan is trying to attack a bulldozer that just tore down the ape´s jungle home. The footage was taken on the island of Borneo where orangutans used to be very common, living happily in the dense canopy of local majestic rain forests. Due to massive (both legal and illegal) logging, however, the orangutan population on Borneo has been decimated critically. With their homes destroyed by heavy machinery, the poor orangutans are often left there to starve and die. Those who survive sometimes venture to villages and settlements of the local people many of whom have little sympathy for the impoverished apes though, attacking them with stones and homemade weapons. It is estimated that the population of the Bornean orangutan is currently less than 14% of what it was just a couple of decades ago.

I hate to share things like this but I believe spreading the word can help do away with this despicable practice. Hopefully, the destruction of orangutans´ habitat will come to an end soon and these magnificent and incredibly intelligent creatures who share 97% of the DNA with humans will be able to live happy lives again.