This is the story of two amazing orangutans named Kopral and Shelton that have suffered unimaginable pain. They are best friends and support each other in every way.
Kopral and Shelton were rescued by the Orangutan Rehabilitation project at Samboja Lestari in Borneo, Indonesia.
Kopral was electrocuted and suffered severely burned arms and legs. There was little hope that Kopral would survive; he underwent emergency surgery and his right arm had to be amputated.
However, Kopral's condition has now improved and after four months of treatment he has fully recovered. He is now able to climb trees using his feet and build nests using his mouth.
Shelton was found by a group of boy scouts in the Kutai National Park with nine gunshot pellets lodged into his body. He was found cowering, abandoned and left for dead. The Organutan Rehabilitation Project immediately took him in and the medical team removed all of the pellets from his body. However, some of the pellets caused such significant damage to Shelton's eyesight, he was left with permanent blindness.
Unlike Kopral, Shelton experienced heavy trauma after his operation. He was often found lying in a corner, hugging his head tightly, traumatized by his ordeal.
When Kopral met Shelton
When Kopral met Shelton, things changed immediately. Both orangutans displayed a fighting spirit filled with survival.They spend time swinging, wrestling and playing with each other. Their magnificent bond has demonstrated the true meaning of "resilience". It has shown that even in the worst possible conditions, these amazing apes have made the best out of a situation.
Unfortunately, the story of Kopral and Shelton is a common occurrence throughout Borneo and Sumatra, where the last critically endangered wild orangutans live. Once numbered at over 200,000 there are now less than 30,000 oragutans left in the wild. Over 90% of the orangutans habitat has been cleared in the last twenty years, with the UNEP estimating in 2009 that that the forests of Indonesia are being cleared at the rate of 6 football fields every six minutes, every day. That figure has now risen to over 300 football fields every hour, every day.
The main culprit to blame is the Palm Oil Industry. Palm oil is a type of vegetable which is derived from the palm fruit, is used in one in ten of our products that we buy from the supermarket.
In short, if nothing is done, if the threats to orangutans do not change, then the orangutan will become extinct in the wild in the next ten to fifteen years. The fighting spirit of Kopral and Shelton will burn out with the rest of the orangutan species.
We can be known as the generation that destroyed the earth or the one that came to respect it. We have every reason to act, we cannot wait until tomorrow. Each of us can make a choice to make a difference or watch the world's last forests burn into ashes.
An article written by Harry Wright
References:
http://orangutan.or.id/kopral-shelton-two-special-friends-helping-each-other/
http://www.orangutan.com/threats-to-orangutans/
http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/Whats_the_issue.php
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/palm_oil/
