Assignments

Tuesday 8th December 2020

I have three assignments to complete over Christmas and the 5 day virtual placement next week plus work that comes with that. Definitely will be using all my time management skills! Today I worked on my presentation on the ecology of Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). They are a IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) critically endangered species Pongo pygmaeus (Bornean Orangutan) (iucnredlist.org). Its an amazing resource for wildlife conservation. Orangutans are amazing, they share 96.4% of their genes with humans and can make and use tools. They have slow life histories, which means that they typically only have one baby every 6 to 8 years, given that they live to about 40 that means that they have a maximum of three babies per female. That only works for a species if the mortality rate is very low. You can guess how that is going for them with deforestation and reduction in habitat. We are looking at conservation for them as part of the assignment - its a difficult one.