OUR #SAVEDENNIS CAMPAIGN
Go Palm Oil Free & Save the Rainforests.
Firstly, We proudly introduce Dutch JAAN ambassador and celebrity, Dennis Weening.
Dennis is as concerned as us about the loss of rainforests and helps to raise awareness about the plight of orphaned orangutans such as our famous ‘Little Dennis’.
Who Is Little Dennis And What’s His Story?
On Saturday 21 February 2015 a big confiscation took place in Bandung. The wildlife trader who was kept in the loop since a while by the wildlife crime unit team consisting of sister organizations, COP and JAAN, which resulted in the succesful confiscation of 32 individual animals belonging to 14 different wildlife species, all critically endangered on the CITES Red List. (http://www.iucnredlist.org/about/citing)
- One baby Orangutan (Pongo Pygmaeus sumatrensis), Sumatra , named Dennis
- One baby Sunbear (Helarctos malayanus), most probably from Sumatra named Ben Ben
- 3 Palm Cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus), from Papua
- Yellow Crested Cockatoos (Cacatua sulphurea)
- 3 Hecki Macaques (Macaca Heckii), from Sulawesi
- 2 Tarsiers (Tarsius tarsier) also most probably from Sulawesi
- 1 Kus Kus (Ailurops ursinus), from Sulawesi
- 8 Hornbills (Buceros bicornis), from Sulawesi
- 1 Pesquet Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus)
- 1 Lorikeet Parrot (Lorius lory)
- 1 Moluccenis Cockatoo (Cacatua Moluccensis), from Seram Island
- 1 Wild Cat – Asian Leopard (Felis bengalensis), from Sumatra
The trader was operating his business on Facebook and was a supplier to zoos in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The animals were being kept in appalling conditions and were suffering badly.
The trader is awaiting further legal process and will be sentenced for the violation of the Indonesian Biodiversity law Number 5, 1990.
Many animals fall victim to the destructive, Palm Oil Industry. Many Forests get completely wiped out and destroyed to make room to plant ‘Palms’ so they are able to obtain the oil that the palms produce and sell worldwide. Little do people know that the Forests that are being destroyed hold many Flora and Fauna that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Traders/Poachers/Captures all take this opportunity to catch wild animals like cats, birds, monkeys etc. As due to the destruction of trees .. They have no homes. This makes them completely vulnerable and easy to catch or kill.
Little Dennis is just another victim of this vicious cycle. Dennis would normally still live in the forests with his mum if it wasn’t for this industry destroying the forests where Dennis used to live. His mother was killed in the process to be able to capture Dennis. He then would be sold to people wanting a pet or to a zoo, This then contributing to the ‘Illegal Wildlife Trade’. Baby Orangutans are specially targeted as they are cute and very popular.
We are destroying the lungs of the Earth ..
What About Dennis now?
Luckily, Dennis fell into our arms and has been cared for at the wildlife rescue center Cikanaga, our sister organization for eight months where he doubled in weight and strength before his relocation to his ‘homeland’ with the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program.
Its hard enough for this center nowadays to find a suitable habitat for Orangutan Rehabilitation and release as the Palm Oil Industry is taking over the Sumatran forests.
Dennis arrived at the SOCP center on September 8, 2015. The same day another baby arrived rescued from the area Kutacane, also a boy and the same age as Dennis.
The baby, still unnamed as struggling with his health at this very moment, was tiny compared to little Dennis, having lost his mother as well, killed in the process of the openings of a new Palm Oil Plantation and Illegal Logging.
The Baby, hopefully will soon be strong and healthy enough to join Dennis so they can play, have fun and find comfort together!
To see more pictures of Dennis arriving to SOCP, Click here.
How Can YOU Help?
To support us and our #savedennis campaign. You can purchase one of our Save Dennis T Shirts (Seen in the photo of Dennis Weening) – Many colors and sizes available! 100% of your purchase will go to helping Dennis.
You can also take a picture with the Save Dennis logo and upload on either FB, Twitter or Instagram and tag us as well as #savedennis.
Many of your favorite confectionary companies, Such as Nestle and Oreo continue to use Palm Oil and support the industry. To help try and END the demand for Palm Oil you can either write a letter to tell them to go #palmoilfree.
Check out this website so give you a guide as to how you can help.
http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/What_can_i_do.php
Palm Oil and Asia’s Rainforests
The Asian Rainforests (where approximately 85 % of the world’s Palm Iil comes from) are rapidly being destroyed by Palm Oil companies.
In Malaysia the majority of the extremely rich Rainforests are already destroyed, leaving behind some small National Parks open for tourists. With the current speed of Palm Oil Companies turning primary Rainforests in to Palm Oil Plantations, it is estimated that Indonesian primary forests, especially in areas such as Borneo and Sumatra, will mostly be destroyed in LESS then 10 years. This will leave NO place for the Orangutans and many other valuable endangered species to live, ripping apart the whole ecosystem and also leaving residents of the rainforests with no forest to call their ‘own’ for their small self running plantation in raw materials such as rubber and rattan. This will leave the earth extremely polluted due to the immense amounts of pesticides used when cultivating Palm Oil trees and the smoke due to the burning of the forests. Nature wont be able to filter carbon dioxine (which leads to global warming) out of the air.
The Palm Oil production is very unsustainable. First, big companies burn down the small trees together with the small plantations of the residents/local people. The very poor residents are either bribed or the plantations are burned down before they know, so that they only can take money. But once the money is spent, they have nothing left.
The local residents are not the people working on the plantations. The plantations, mostly run by Malaysian companies, attract cheap workers from other islands like Java and Flores. These people work under extreme conditions, in the daily heat, spreading pesticides and work for extremly long hours, They live together in ‘baraks’ and are literally ‘trapped’; their wages are so low they can’t return back home.
Then the large trees are being felled and sold. The animals living in the forests either die or suffer other fates. Animals are often being killed. Palm Oil companies pay workers money for any animal killed, as they see them as ‘pests’. These animals include protected wildlife, like Gibbons and Orangutans. The babies are then often sold as a pet while the adults are shot, beaten or burned.
The ever growing, monstrous Palm Oil Industry does nothing but destroy lives .. The life of the Rainforest, The lives of the beautiful creatures residing there and also the lives of people.
To see Dennis’ finally making it home, Click here!
To keep up to date with Dennis’ daily adventures, Click here!