Discovery Of Rarest Orang Utan Sub--Species Prompts Sarawak To Propose New National Park

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), April 9 (Bernama) -- The government of the east Malaysian state of Sarawak planned to gazette an area in Sungai Menyang, Sri Aman as another national park following the recent discovery of the world's rarest sub-species of Bornean orang utan in the area, State Resource Planning and Environment Minister, Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said Tuesday. He said the discovery of the Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus sub-species was made during a survey conducted by the Forestry Department, Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Borneo Adventure which covered an area of about 14,000 hectares in Sungai Menyang, which is near the Batang Ai National Park. "This sub-species is listed as the most severely threatened worldwide," he told a press conference, here, to announce the findings. He said the state government had held several dialogues with the local people on the plan to create the new national park, so as to raise their understanding on the need to have such a park in order to preserve the habitat of the orang utan. "Sarawak will continue with its policy of protecting orang utans and their habitats. Not only is this species globally significant, it is also culturally significant to the people of Sarawak," he added. -- BERNAMA