According to the text of the 1998 G-8 meeting held in Birmingham on forest management, "illegal logging robs national and subnational governments, forest owners and local communities of significant revenues and benefits, damages forest ecosystems, distorts timber markets and forest resource assessments and acts as a disincentive to sustainable forest management. International trade in illegally harvested timber including transfer pricing, under invoicing and other illegal practices, exacerbates the problem of illegal logging."" In fact, in the last ten years, orangutan populations have declined by 50% and their habitat has disappeared by 80% in the last twenty years. Estimates suggest that at the current rate, wild orangutans will be completely extinct within the next 10-20 years. This has caused them to be in the second most endangered group of all animals. In some parts of Borneo, gold dust has been found in the soil, and many treasure hunters cut down acres of forest and polluted the water. Also contributing to the low populations are poachers who kill adults for novelties and sell the young as pets. In addition, females bear young every eight to ten years and have only one baby at a time. The reproduction rate is so slow that despite human effort, it may take centuries to replace the population to only a fraction of its original splendor.
Prehistorically, orangutan population numbers were probably in the hundreds of thousands. Now, current numbers estimate that there are only 15,000-25,000 orangutans left in Borneo and Somalia. Under ideal conditions, these animals spend their time roaming through the forests, searching for food. However recently, due to the problems facing their habitats, orangutans are being forced into smaller areas that cannot completely support them. Although there are many suitable locations in Indonesia, the scattered populations of orangutans are unable to pass various geological obstructions.
