Tuesday, June 23, 2026
How one devastating cyclone wiped out 7% of the planet’s rarest great apes
How one devastating cyclone wiped out 7% of the planet’s rarest great apes
A Tapanuli orangutan is pictured in Batang Toru, North Sumatra. These critically endangered animals are threatened by climate change-fueled extreme weather. (Photo Credit: Orangutan Information Centre via CNN Newsource)
How one devastating cyclone wiped out 7% of the planet’s rarest great apes
The cyclone killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over a million.
By Mustafa Qadri, CNN
Published Jun 16, 2026 7:37 AM PDT | Updated Jun 16, 2026 7:37 AM PDT
A Tapanuli orangutan is pictured in Batang Toru, North Sumatra. These critically endangered animals are threatened by climate change-fueled extreme weather. (Photo Credit: Orangutan Information Centre via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — A cyclone that brought catastrophic flooding and devastating landslides to Indonesia wiped out more than 7% of the global population of the world’s rarest great apes, a new study has found.
Nearly 60 of the 800 Tapanuli orangutans remaining in the wild were killed when Cyclone Senyar slammed into the Indonesian island of Sumatra last November, according to the study published this month in the journal Current Biology.
The cyclone has pushed these critically endangered orangutans closer to extinction, the study scientists said. And it’s a sign that climate change-fueled extreme weather is adding to the risks the orangutans already face as the forests they live in are cleared for roads, farming and industry.
Cyclone Senyar brought more than 16 inches of rain to Indonesia, making it one of the region’s most intense rain events in recent years, according to the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation and Research Center. Climate change fueled the tropical storm, increasing the rain’s intensity by 9% to 50%, according to one analysis.
The cyclone killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over a million. It also caused devastation in the orangutans’ main habitat on Sumatra - the West Block of the Batang Toru ecosystem in North Sumatra.
Heavy rain has led to more than 1,000 deaths across Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, while Sri Lanka faces impacts from a separate storm.
The researchers used satellite data to identify more than 20,000 acres of landslide scars — visible patches of rock, soil, and debris — which wiped out nearly 12% of forest cover in this region.
Researchers say the landslides happened as extremely heavy rainfall saturated the ground, causing parts of the hillside to suddenly break away. Because these kinds of collapses often happen with little or no warning, any orangutans had very little time to escape.
The analysis found 58 Tapanuli orangutans were killed, accounting for 11% of the local population and 7% of the total global population.
These numbers may be conservative, the scientists said, as they used estimates of population density. The study also did not account for other cyclone-related threats such as reduced food availability for surviving orangutans or destruction of forest canopy.
“It could well be that up to 120 animals died during the landslide events,” said Erik Meijaard, the study’s lead author and the managing director of Borneo Futures in Brunei. The numbers could also be lower than 58, he added.
The orangutans’ deaths are a huge blow to a very vulnerable species.
Tapanuli orangutans recover extremely slowly, as females tend to only give birth every six to nine years, making it difficult for the population to rebound. The apes live in isolated populations across Sumatra, meaning that even a single cyclone or landslide can have long-lasting consequences. Researchers warn the damage may increase if surviving orangutans face reduced breeding success after the disaster.
The Tapanuli orangutan struggle to withstand even small increases in death rates and annual losses of more than 1% a year likely put the species on a path toward extinction, Meijaard said.
The findings have prompted calls for the Indonesian government to enforce stronger conservation measures to protect the endangered species.
“Whether these orangutans can recover will depend on what happens next,” said Friederike Otto, a climate science professor at Imperial College London.
“If this tragedy serves as a wake-up call to really halt deforestation, reconnect some of fragmented forest habitats where that is possible, and bring governments, local communities, and industries together to support conservation efforts, the species may still have a chance,” she told CNN.
But, she warned, another heavy rainfall event, which climate change is making more likely, poses a huge risk to their recovery.
The aftermath of the devastating flash floods triggered by Tropical Cyclone Senyar is pictured in Aceh, Indonesia, on December 29, 2025. (Photo Credit: Sutanta Aditya/NurPhoto/Shutterstock via CNN Newsource)
Adriano Lameira, a primatologist from the University of Warwick who studies Sumatran orangutans and was also not involved in the research, said the Indonesian government must better protect the orangutans’ habitat from both people and industry.
“After decades of sustained conservation efforts, it is clear the current system is not working and cannot guarantee the protection of the country’s unique natural resources,” he said.
The orangutans have huge value, he added, including furthering our understanding of humanity: “As one of the last few remaining great ape species, the Tapanuli orangutan also provides unique insights into the potential lives of ancient human ancestors and why and how humans came to become who we are today.”
Source: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-one-devastating-cyclone-wiped-out-7-of-the-planets-rarest-great-apes/1902204
Tapanuli orangutan is pictured in Batang Toru, North Sumatra.
A Tapanuli orangutan is pictured in Batang Toru, North Sumatra. These critically endangered animals are threatened by climate change-fueled extreme weather. (Photo Credit: Orangutan Information Centre via CNN Newsource)
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-one-devastating-cyclone-wiped-out-7-of-the-planets-rarest-great-apes/1902204
Sadness As An Orangutan Tries To Fight The Digger Destroying Its Habitat
Sadness As An Orangutan Tries To Fight The Digger Destroying Its Habitat
Footage recently released by International Animal Rescue, shows harrowing footage of an orangutan trying to fight off a digger destroying its habitat.
As loggers smash the base of a tree in the Ketapang District, West Borneo, heart-breaking video shows one of the great apes perched in the tree’s canopy as it falls to the floor.
In the footage - originally shot in 2013 but only released publicly now - the orangutan is clinging on as it slowly topples to the ground, the orangutan starts making its way down the trunk.
As two members of IAR's Orangutan Protection Unit try to dart and carry the animal to safety, the dismayed ape reaches out and momentarily grabs on to the maleficent machine causing it to pull away.
As loggers smash the base of a tree in the Ketapang District, West Borneo, heart-breaking video shows one of the great apes perched in the tree’s canopy as it falls to the floor.
In the footage - originally shot in 2013 but only released publicly now - the orangutan is clinging on as it slowly topples to the ground, the orangutan starts making its way down the trunk.
As two members of IAR's Orangutan Protection Unit try to dart and carry the animal to safety, the dismayed ape reaches out and momentarily grabs on to the maleficent machine causing it to pull away.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2026
GET A LIFE NOW: Aloka the Peace Dog: Stray Who Walked 2,300 Miles ...
Aloka the Peace Dog: Stray Who Walked 2,300 Miles With Buddhist Monks
Jan 20, 2026 #Aloka #BuddhistMonks #WalkForPeace
Aloka the Peace Dog: Stray Who Walked 2,300 Miles With Buddhist Monks
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Jan 20, 2026 #Aloka #BuddhistMonks #WalkForPeace
Aloka, a stray dog from India, is walking 2,300 miles across
America with 19 Buddhist monks on their Walk for Peace.
When she was hit by a car and needed surgery, she refused to stay
behind—jumping from their support truck multiple times to
rejoin the monks. This is her incredible story of loyalty,
sacrifice, and what it means to never give up on family.
🐕 THE STORY OF ALOKA:
Found as a stray on the streets of Kolkata, India, Aloka
followed Buddhist monks for over 1,000 kilometers. When they
returned to the United States, they raised $14,000 to bring
her to Texas. Now she's walking 2,300 miles from Fort Worth
to Washington DC, teaching America about loyalty in a divided
time.
https://youtu.be/CAW2MoFhaGs
Aloka is believed to be a Pariah dog of Indian origin, once a stray. In 2022, during a peace pilgrimage across India, a group of Vietnamese American Buddhist monks noticed a dog that kept following them. Despite being injured (including being struck by a car) and becoming seriously ill, the dog repeatedly rejoined the monks as they continued their walk.
Eventually, the Monks adopted him and named him Aloka, a word rooted in Pali and Sanskrit meaning light or illumination. With a distinctive heart-shaped marking on his forehead, it’s hard not to feel that Aloka was meant to walk this path. One could call it his purpose.
There is something deeply grounding in watching a dog walk for peace. Aloka doesn’t argue ideology. He doesn’t persuade. He doesn’t explain. What he offers instead is unconditional love, presence, and a much-needed reminder of what dogs have always known: that peace isn’t something you declare; it’s something you embody.
In a world that often rewards speed, noise, and certainty, Aloka walks slowly, attentively, and without demand — and in doing so, invites us to do the same.
“May light walk before me, and peace walk beside me.”
(Aloka means light — illumination — and with every mindful step, that light is something we can choose to carry forward.)
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Aloka the dog accompanying Buddhist Monks in the "Walk for Peace"
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Aloka in Raleigh, North Carolina in January 2026
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