We Can’t Hang Around If We Want To Save Apes

Jun 4, 2015 11:00 AM ET

This article originally posted on The Daily Telegraph

IT’S the most human of instincts – the desire to keep your family safe.

But orangutans, our closest relation in the animal kingdom, are in deadly danger.

And it’s humans who are the problem.

Logging, fires, human encroachment and poaching have left these great apes — who share most of our DNA — on the brink of extinction in the next decade.

Great swathes of the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra, the only habitats where orangutans are found, are being wiped out by deforestation to make products for our homes.

But while it may feel impossible to lend a hand from so far away, now ordinary people have the chance to make a difference — simply by making more careful choices when they shop.

Industry giant Kimberly-Clark Australia has partnered with WWF to protect the habitat of the orangutans by promoting sustainable forestry management.

For every pack of Kleenex Cottonelle sold from now until June 9, Kimberly-Clark will donate 10 cents to WWF to help protect orangutans and their homes.

Click here to continue reading on The Daily Telegraph