Orangutan diplomacy: A twisted plan

On May 8, Malaysia made a proposal. It is called “orangutan diplomacy.” This describes the nation’s plan to gift orangutans to countries that buy their palm oil. Orangutans that are desperately in need of help, not harm.

What makes this so ironic? Well, palm oil is a main driver of deforestation. Palms best grow where orangutans thrive. Natural jungle, wild and buzzing with life, is cleared to make way for the plantations that produce oils we use in cooking, lotions, shampoo and even foods like ice cream. Encouraging this hardly seems in the orangutan’s best interest.

Though the proposal is supposedly for the apes, Malaysia’s hesitation around explaining how they plan to get the apes poses an interesting question: Will these orangutans be taken from the wild? Palm oil has another sickening side effect: It pushes orangutans to the ground. Without the cover of the canopy, orangutans are vulnerable. Workers on the ground can take advantage of this. Now enters pet trade.

Orangutan mothers fleeing destruction with their infants clinging to them are trapped, the adults are shot and the babies pried from their dead bodies. That is the moment the life of freedom orangutan infants once knew ends and a trapped and tortured life begins.

The similarities between human babies and young apes make them a target for pet trade. Over the next few years of his life, an orangutan could fall into the hands of biomedical researchers, zoos with horrid conditions, tourist attractions popular among western visitors, boxing matches, and crates or cages. Will they now be used as “diplomats” as a reward to palm oil buyers whose decisions have destroyed their homes?

Once orangutans get around 5 years old, they are no longer wanted. Few are able to be rescued by sanctuaries.

This is proof that those who call orangutan diplomacy hypocritical are not wrong. In the article “The Illegal Pet Trade” by Orangutan Republik Foundation, the text says, “one Palm Oil Company in central Kalimantan instigated a policy of paying local people 150,000 Rupiah (around $17) for every orangutan ‘pest’ killed (Buckland 2005).” With guns not always available, orangutans are sometimes even buried alive.

Animals always seem to be getting the negative effects of countries reinforcing positive relationships. Why are we trading lives for small comforts?

China’s attempt at educating the public using panda diplomacy worked, but at what price? While zoos were gaining publicity over loaned pandas who are no strangers to long plane rides, China was sending political messages with the bears, even as openly as in their names.

The wellness of pandas is overlooked as China rushes to smooth over relations with other countries.

China gained publicity and a spotlight on conservation through the panda diplomacy program, but that spotlight shadowed the country’s neglect of other species. China permits “licensed trade in tiger skins and allows tigers to be farmed on an industrial scale” says Peter Carroll, Tiger Time’s campaign manager in the article “Why Panda Diplomacy is Cute but Ethically Questionable” from The National News. Tigers are one of the many animals victim to little government protection in the face of increased poaching and expanding cities.

History repeats itself — why let the cycle go on?

Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it is right. And just because it is common, doesn’t mean it is only worth ignoring. Though many people participate in pet trade without knowing it, this lack of research is not harmless. Around 12,000 macaques legally enter the U.S. for research per year.

As of right now, there are 2,000 chimpanzees in U.S. labs, according to the Orangutan Republik Foundation. These animals have been through so much. Many are from private collections and other forms of captivity. But some are from the wild. Not only this, but 113 chimpanzees are kept as pets in the U.S., which is one of the few countries where great apes as pets is still legal, according to the Orangutan Republik Foundation.

So, I have a proposal of my own. Every person can take action.

We need to resist attractions harmful to animals and apes when we travel. We need to avoid palm ingredients in the products we buy. We need to work together to make the right choices and say no to orangutan diplomacy. But we must not leave palm oil workers stranded. Everyone can work to offer a safe alternative to compensate for palm oil job loss, one that does not harm the planet.

We cannot allow these amazing creatures to succumb to trade. We must take a stand and make sure no more ape infants are pried from their dead mother’s body. We can only achieve this together and with genuine empathy, care and passion.

Edie McGrath is a seventh-grade student at Kulshan Middle School in Bellingham.