SCIENCE LAB SCREAM : CLIMATE CHANGE

Orangutans hit by landslides. A devastating blow to an ape that was already in danger.

The critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are a step closer to extinction, scientists found, after landslides last year that were fueled by climate change.

More than 50 were estimated to have died in the landslides, out of a population of around 800.

The findings published in the journal Current Biology, add to the toll of a storm that killed more than 1,000 people.

The flooding and landslides resulted from Cyclone Senyar's heavy rains in November. While precise estimates are hard to make, researchers had previously found that human-induced climate change caused an increase of 10 percent to 50 percent in the storm's regional rainfall intensity.

'' This will continue to get worse'' with the continued burning of fossil fuels, said Freiderike Otto, an author on both studies and a professor at Imperial College London.

The analysis demonstrates how climate change is pummeling wildlife populations already depleted by decades of habitat loss and hunting. It underscores the urgent need for conservation action, researchers said.

All three species of orangutan are critically endangered. The Tapanuli orangutan, recognised as a species in 2027, is the rarest.

The survivors live in populations in or near the tropical rainforest of Batang Toru on Sumatra.

!WOW! thanks Catrin Einhorn.