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Orangutans are
the closest relatives of humans. Their name means "man of the
forest". They are the oldest of the big anthropoid apes and
the largest animals living in trees. They mainly feed on fruit -
skillfully picked with their hands.
Orangutangs
live in the diverse tropical forests of Indonesia and New Guinea
and the nearby archipelagos that form the Paradise Forests of Asia
Pacific.
They share their
home with over 500 species of mammals and over 1,600 species of
birds such as the exotic Bird of Paradise, and around 30,000 species
of plants such as Indonesia's giant Rafflesia flower that can grow
up to one metre across.
Many people
also live in the forest - in New Guinea alone over 800 languages
are spoken, one third of all the languages spoken on earth.
The biggest threat to the forest is logging, agriculture, road-construction
and forest fires from human fires that are lit to clear the land
for crops.
Click here to take action today to help save the home of the Orangutan!
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Kids for Forests
For more information about the Kids for Forests Project contact
your local Greenpeace office .
For more information about Ancient Forests visit the Greenpeace
website.
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