JAKARTA: Footage of a seemingly confused orangutan roaming the desolate site of an Indonesian coal mine, metres from excavators, has sparked renewed concern about the future of the critically endangered species.

The images, taken last month by a local resident, are from the same province on Borneo island where Indonesia is building its new capital, a project environmentalists fear will endanger animal habitats in Asia’s last great rainforest.

Indonesia has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates, with commodities mining a key driver, but it is also one of only two places in the world where orangutans are still found, along with Malaysia.

The footage, which went viral on Indonesian social media, shows the male orangutan roaming across a chasm of sand streaked with white and black rocks, dug into land still surrounded by vegetation.

“Humans are sometimes too greedy. I hope God won’t punish us,” read one comment on the video, which racked up tens of thousands of views across YouTube and TikTok.

Locals standing on a bluff overlooking the site filmed the creature as it meandered metres from a digger that was seemingly oblivious to its presence.

Ahmad Baihaqi, who filmed the images, said a group of locals had been watching activity at the mine site when they spotted the primate. “I felt bad because he looked so confused,” the 22-year-old driver said.

“He was alone and looked lost, he didn’t know where to go because the forest was disappearing.”

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025