Concern as Orangutan Seen Roaming Indonesia Coal Site

This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
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Concern as Orangutan Seen Roaming Indonesia Coal Site

This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)

Footage of a seemingly confused orangutan roaming the desolate site of an Indonesian coal mine, meters from excavators, has sparked renewed concern about the future of the critically endangered species.

The images, taken last month by a local resident and verified by AFP, are from the same province on Borneo island where Indonesia is building its new capital, a project environmentalists fear will endanger animal habitats in Asia's last great rainforest.

Indonesia has one of the world's highest deforestation rates, with commodities mining a key driver, but it is also one of only two places in the world where orangutans are still found, along with Malaysia.

The footage, which went viral on Indonesian social media, shows the male orangutan roaming across a chasm of sand streaked with white and black rocks, dug into land still surrounded by vegetation.

"Humans are sometimes too greedy. I hope God won't punish us," read one comment on the video, which racked up tens of thousands of views across YouTube and TikTok.

Locals standing on a bluff overlooking the site filmed the creature as it meandered metres from a digger that was seemingly oblivious to its presence.

Ahmad Baihaqi, who filmed the images, said a group of locals had been watching activity at the mine site when they spotted the primate.

"I felt bad because he looked so confused," the 22-year-old driver told AFP.

"He was alone and looked lost, he didn't know where to go because the forest was disappearing."

The sighting took place in East Kalimantan, where Indonesia is building its multi-billion-dollar capital city Nusantara at breakneck speed.

- Habitat disturbed -

Although the coal mine is a nine-hour drive from the construction site, the images renewed doubts about government claims that economic activity in the province is not affecting endangered animals.

Local environmentalist Mappaselle of the Balikpapan Coastal Working Group, who like many Indonesians uses one name, said the footage was clear evidence of that impact.

The orangutan sighting "was definitely because their habitat has been disturbed and is getting smaller," he said.

"Our endangered wildlife could go extinct," he warned.

"It's a natural wealth from God to us on Earth. If wildlife goes extinct, humans have failed in our job to protect nature."

All three species of orangutan are considered critically endangered, though estimates of the number left in the wild vary considerably.

Ari Wibawanto, head of the local conservation agency which sits under Indonesia's environment ministry, told AFP its officials had located the 15-year-old wild orangutan and moved it to a protected forest area after the footage surfaced.

But he argued that it was natural for male orangutans to roam around.



Japan's Imperial Family to Start YouTube Account

People ride on the boat near the blooming cherry blossoms at Inokashira Park in Tokyo on March 27, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
People ride on the boat near the blooming cherry blossoms at Inokashira Park in Tokyo on March 27, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
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Japan's Imperial Family to Start YouTube Account

People ride on the boat near the blooming cherry blossoms at Inokashira Park in Tokyo on March 27, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
People ride on the boat near the blooming cherry blossoms at Inokashira Park in Tokyo on March 27, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Japan's ancient imperial family will launch a YouTube account next week, the government said Friday, in the latest attempt at public outreach by the tradition-bound monarchy.
Last year the royals made their social media debut with an Instagram account which now has nearly two million followers.
Its posts show Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their family meeting foreign dignitaries, visiting victims of natural disasters or checking out prized art exhibits.
From Tuesday the family will also publish videos on YouTube, a spokesman at the Imperial Household Agency told AFP.
Naruhito, 65, ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019 after his father became the first emperor to abdicate in over two centuries.
The monarchy holds no political power under Japan's post-war constitution, instead acting as symbolic figureheads.
Although the family remain deeply adored and respected, especially among older citizens, they also face huge pressure to meet exacting standards of behavior and have sometimes become the target of online vitriol.
The emperor's brother Prince Akishino said last year that his family had been targeted by "bullying-like" messages.
When his daughter Mako married her college sweetheart in 2021, reports appeared in Japanese media about money troubles faced by his mother, a scandal seen as damaging to the royal family.
The couple opted not to have a public wedding ceremony and left Japan to live in the United States.