Orphaned orangutan (photo)
Baby orangutan orphaned by the palm oil industry when its forest habitat was cleared for a plantation in Sumatra. More orangutan photos.
Misty rainforest in Sumatra (photo)
Indonesia’s Bukit Tigapuluh National Park is one of the last strongholds of lowland tropical rainforest in Sumatra. Most of the island’s lowland forests have been destroyed for palm oil, timber, and agriculture. More pictures from Sumatra.
Photos: up close and personal with Sumatran elephants
Baby Sumatran elephant on the run. Photos of Sumatran elephants at Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park on the island of Sumatra. These Sumatran elephants are patrol elephants; they’ve been recently domesticated and are used to reduce human-wildlife conflict. All photos by Rhett A. Butler. Meeting of the minds. Sumatran elephant with mahout. Trunk tricks. Traveling. Big male. Fountain. Modern world. To see more photos of Sumatran...
Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry: Helping the poor or helping itself?
Giant Dipterocarp tree in Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler in 2009 Over the past several years, Asia Pulp & Paper has engaged in a marketing campaign to represent its operations in Sumatra as socially and environmentally sustainable. APP and its agents maintain that industrial pulp and paper production — as practiced in Sumatra — does not result in deforestation, is carbon neutral, helps...
Picture: Leaf monkey in Sumatra
Thomas’ Leaf Monkey is a species found in Sumatra, Indonesia. It typically lives in groups from 10-20 individuals and feeds on fruit, young leaves, seeds, and occasionally insects.
What a face!
A Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) makes a face. Listed as Critically Endangered the Sumatran orangutan is largely threatened by habitat loss to plantations, such as wood pulp and palm oil, and logging. After losing their forests, many orangutans, such as this one, are now housed in rehabilitation centers. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of...
Wild ginger
Wild ginger flower on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of wild ginger.
