🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Wildlife corridors are widely used to reduce extinction risk in fragmented habitats.
The Tapanuli orangutan relies on continuous forest canopy for movement and dispersal. Connectivity allows individuals to find mates and maintain genetic diversity. With all individuals confined to the Batang Toru ecosystem, broken corridors isolate subpopulations. Isolation increases inbreeding and demographic instability. Maintaining canopy bridges across fragmented terrain is central to conservation strategy. Fewer than 800 individuals depend on these links. Connectivity transforms separate patches into a functioning whole. Without it, extinction risk rises sharply.
💥 Impact (click to read)
The canopy acts as both highway and lifeline. Remove key links, and groups become genetic islands. Small islands face higher extinction probabilities. In a species this rare, fragmentation multiplies vulnerability. Connectivity is survival infrastructure.
Landscape-scale planning is essential to preserve dispersal routes. Protecting corridors enhances resilience against stochastic events and genetic drift. The Tapanuli orangutan’s fate hinges on maintaining a web of forest rather than isolated fragments. Continuous canopy equals continuous lineage.
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