I have often seen orang-utans kept captive in a zoo; <br />To meet one, in the wild, would be a dream come true. <br />Without human help, orang-utans may cease to exist; <br />Their presence on earth would be very sorely missed. <br /> <br />They will never refuse a kind human’s helping hand, <br />But, it is the poachers who they are unable to stand. <br />On the forest floor, they forage for fresh, juicy fruit. <br />The baby orang-utans especially, are really rather cute. <br /> <br />When meeting an orang-utan, you realise how smart they are; <br />With the human mind, orang-utans are almost on a level par. <br />Just like us humans, they experience real thoughts and feelings; <br />News that they are being slaughtered, has really left me reeling. <br /> <br />These defenceless creatures are unable to escape the slaughter; <br />Their numbers have now been cut down by more than a quarter. <br />Wealthy businessmen are paying people to shoot orang-utans dead; <br />Humans are killing them, when we should be helping them instead. <br /> <br />Their habitat has been dramatically reduced by deforestation; <br />Trees are chopped down, to make way for palm oil plantations. <br />The adults are shot, but, often, the terrified babies are saved; <br />As posh people’s pets, they often find themselves enslaved. <br /> <br />On each of their heads, there hangs a seventy pound bill; <br />At the very thought of this, my bones are totally chilled. <br />Orang-utans are in desperate decline, and that is a sad fact; <br />Their numbers will keep on dwindling, unless we humans act.<br /><br />Angela Wybrow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tans-for-the-memory-orangutans/
