ASumatran orangutanhas been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday.
Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of thecritically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people have been increasing.
The fleeting scene, captured by a motion‑sensitive camera, showed a young Sumatran orangutan pause at the forest's edge, grip a rope with deliberate care and step out into open air. Halfway across, it stopped, casting a glance down at the road below.
"Then, with a cheeky glance to camera, he continues on his way," the Sumatran Orangutan Society, or SOS, said in asocial media post showing the video.
Conservationists said that it marks the first documented case of a species on the brink of extinction using an artificial canopy bridge to cross a public road that had divided its habitat.
"This was the moment we had been waiting for," Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director of Indonesian conservation group Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, or TaHuKah, told The Associated Press. "We are very grateful that the canopy here provides benefits for orangutan conservation efforts."
He said that the bridge spans the Lagan-Pagindar road in Pakpak Bharat district, a vital corridor connecting remote villages to schools, healthcare and government services. But the road also cuts directly through a prime orangutan habitat, splitting an estimated 350 orangutans into two isolated forest areas: the Siranggas Wildlife Reserve and the Sikulaping Protection Forest.
When the road was upgraded in 2024, the gap in the forest canopy widened, eliminating natural crossings for tree‑dwelling wildlife.
"Development was necessary for people," Siregar said. "But without intervention, it would have left orangutans trapped on either side."
TaHuKah, working with SOS and local and national government agencies, proposed a simple solution: rope bridges suspended between trees, allowing arboreal animals to cross above traffic.
Source: Drudge Report
