The study found that landslides triggered by extreme rainfall in November 2025 likely killed about 7% of the estimated global population of Tapanuli orangutans.Researchers warned that without swift intervention, the species could face increasingly frequent climate-driven disasters in the future.The study only quantified direct mortality from landslides and did not account for deaths caused by canopy collapse outside mapped landslide areas, starvation, injuries or longer-term ecological consequences.In a statement to Mongabay, the forest ministry said it “appreciates and is taking into consideration” scientific studies on the Tapanuli orangutan, including research estimating the impacts of floods and landslides on the species.
JAKARTA — Climate change has become a direct threat to the survival of the world’s rarest great ape, according to scientists, after landslides triggered by an unusually intense storm killed an estimated 58 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) in Indonesia’s Batang Toru ecosystem.
The estimate comes from a new study published in Current Biology, whose authors say the findings may represent one of the first examples of climate change immediately threatening the survival of an entire species.
