Tapanuli orangutans face mining, landslides, and fire threats — with no recovery plan

Nearly a year after a cyclone-triggered landslide disaster that scientists estimate killed around 58 Tapanuli orangutans, roughly seven times the species' sustainable mortality threshold, there is still no coordinated recovery plan for the animals. Satellite imagery now shows fresh ground disturbance in June near the Martabe gold mine's Ramba Joring pit, an area overlapping the largest known population of the critically endangered ape, of which only 716 are believed to remain.

Mighty Earth calls the disturbance a landslide tied to mine development; mine operator Agincourt Resources says it followed planned blasting with attention to slope stability, and disputes the mortality study entirely, citing its own monitoring that found no dead orangutans. Indonesia's environment ministry declined to say whether it had investigated, referring questions to law enforcement.

Researchers note the disturbed area sits partly outside zones the company's own map schedules for disturbance through 2030, and scientists suspect the newer scarring may be secondary landslides from ground destabilized by the earlier cyclone. Agincourt says its surveys covered only 63% of its preservation area, the rest being too steep to reach.

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