The Ecology Trust
Help Protect Orangutans from Coronavirus
Please help us to raise £75,000 to help protect Sumatran orangutans from coronavirus
Story
Orangutans are a lot like us. They share 97% of our DNA and, tragically, are also at risk from coronavirus. Scientists fear the virus could easily jump to orangutans. If the virus were to infect even one wild orangutan, experts fear it could potentially spread unchecked and wipe out an entire population. There would be no way to stop it in the wild.
This a serious concern for Sumatra's only Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, where staff are already providing medical care and rehabilitation for many more animals than usual. The risk of transmission to wild populations means even healthy animals who are ready to be released must wait until a safer time before they can at last be returned to their rainforest home. But new cases keep arriving, some requiring urgent treatment, as orangutans are rescued from lives in captivity as part of the illegal pet trade.
We are taking every precaution to ensure the safety of the orangutans we care for, the dedicated staff that care for them, and the wild orangutans of Sumatra. But this also means we are facing significant, unanticipated additional costs.
The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme's (SOCP) Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre urgently needs your help. Your generous donation will help us to:
- buy essential food, medicine and enrichment for orangutans
- ensure safe bio-secure living conditions for the orangutans in our care
- to provide a continuous supply PPE for the front-line care and veterinary staff
We've never, ever turned away an orangutan that needed our help and we will do everything in our power to make sure we never do - Dr Ian Singleton, SOCP Director
Thank you so much for your support at this critical time!
Through the SOCP's Rescue and Rehabilitation work we are actively creating two entirely new, self-sustaining and wild orangutan populations in Sumatra. As far as we are aware, we are the only organisation in the world actually creating new, genetically viable wild populations of a great ape.
Please read our recent coverage in the New York Times or visit the SOCP website.
This SOCP appeal is endorsed by the Leuser Ecosystem Action Fund and hosted by The Ecology Trust. SOCP would like to extend our sincere thanks to Kike Arnal, Alain Schroeder, Maxime Aliaga, Emily Garthwaite, Jennifer Baker, Sarah Woodhead, Harriet Williams, the JMG Foundation, Arcus Foundation and Banyan Designs.
