Hi, I’m Sofia, and in this video I’m going to talk about Pony, an orangutan who was used
as a slave, as well as the current plight of primates in general.
But, first I’d like to talk a little bit about Koko, who was a beloved gorilla who
passed away last month at the age of 46.
For those who don’t know about Koko, she was a beautiful gorilla who learned sign language
when she was growing up.
So, she could actually communicate with humans through sign language.
She befriended several celebrities, including Robin Williams, and even adopted an abandoned
kitten, who she named "All Ball" because to her the cat looked like a little ball.
Koko famously played with and cared for her kitten very gently and lovingly, until one
day her kitten went missing and she was informed by a human – via sign language – that
her kitten had been hit and killed by a car.
Koko reacted to the sad news with a period of profound grief and crying out loud.
[Koko crying]
So, Koko was quite a celebrity, and we’re all remembering this sweet gorilla after her
recent passing.
However, not all primates are treated with such reverence.
As a stark contrast, this orangutan called Pony was captured and used as a prostitute
in a brothel in Borneo.
You heard that right.
They shaved her hair off, chained her to a mattress,
and men would come and pay to have sex with her.
Customers could choose between a human prostitute or Pony, but many came specifically for Pony,
as she was apparently considered a novelty and was very lucrative for the brothel.
The director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said, “It took us over a year
to rescue her, because every time we went in with forest police and local officers we
would be overpowered by the villagers, who simply would not give her up.
They would threaten us with guns and knives with poison on them.
In the end it took 35 policemen armed with AK-47s and other weaponry going in there and
demanding [that] they hand over Pony.”
It’s very sad and disturbing that so many people were supposedly okay with an orangutan
being a sex slave.
Fortunately, most people in general would never be okay with an orangutan (or anyone)
being used as a sex slave, and most of us are naturally horrified by the idea of it.
But, unfortunately, primates are still in big trouble all over the world and for a whole
host of reasons.
By far, the biggest threat they’re facing right now is that they are losing their habitats.
This video was actually filmed in Borneo, the same place where Pony was from.
This is a different orangutan apparently trying to fight off a bulldozer that is destroying
his home.
An alarming 60% of primate species are now threatened with extinction, and 75% have declining
populations because we are taking their land.
And why are we taking their land?
Well, because of our rapid human population growth coupled with our consumption habits,
which (importantly) include palm oil and animal foods.
Palm oil is used widely in many products.
And it is grown in tropical rainforests.
So what we are doing now, is we are clearing these rainforests, and replacing all that
land with palm oil plantations.
So, please don’t consume items with palm oil.
But, when it comes to land use globally and loss of biodiversity in general, it’s important
to keep in mind that it’s animal agriculture that is the leading driver of deforestation
in the world, and (by far) the largest land user on the planet.
Animal agriculture uses a staggering 45% of the land surface of the planet.
Forty five percent of it!
So our collective consumption of animal foods like meat, dairy and eggs, results in the
need to clear even larger expanses of natural ecosystems, like rainforests and other sensitive
areas, and convert them into farmlands.
And when we convert natural ecosystems into farmlands, we kill the animals who were there
because they lose their habitats – so, it’s directly driving loss of biodiversity, which
is irreplaceable.
Of course, the demand for both animal foods and palm oil is increasing every single day
as our human population increases.
How fast is our human population growing?
Well, after subtracting deaths, our human population is increasing by a net growth of
about 230,000 people every day.
That’s a net growth of over 80 million people per year.
So, think about it.
The entire United Kingdom has a population of about 65 million people.
That means, in terms of humans, we’re adding more than a new United Kingdom every year,
even though we are already overshooting what our planet’s natural resources
can sustainably supply.
Slowing and stabilizing our human population growth is urgently needed from an environmental
perspective and would make all of our environmental challenges easier to address, including the
palm oil disaster, the plastic contamination disaster, and a lot of other things.
But a global transition to vegan diets is also urgently needed from an environmental
perspective as well.
Remember, according to the United Nations, animal agriculture is the number one driver
of deforestation in the world.
And loss of habitats is the number one cause of species going extinct right now.
And there are so many species going extinct right now, that biologists have already classified
our time as the Sixth Mass Extinction in Earth’s history.
According to a comprehensive study just published in the journal Science, researchers from Oxford
University found that, by eliminating meat and dairy from our diets, we could feed the
entire world population and, at the same time, reduce global farmland by more than 75% – an
area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined.
Isn’t that amazing?
I think this is so remarkable that I would like to repeat it.
If the human population fed itself with plant foods instead of animal foods, we would reduce
the land used for farmlands by 75%, which is an area equivalent to the US, China, the
European Union and Australia combined.
So, if we’re eating meat and dairy, we’re paying for products that are wiping out and
killing species, and doing so in the context of an alarming and ongoing mass extinction
event, which is what is happening right now.
As a physician, I’d also like to point out that a plant-based vegan diet happens to be
very healthy too.
It decreases our risk for many chronic diseases.
Even Harvard’s Healthy Eating Pyramid acknowledges that we should, “Go with plants”, because
“eating a plant-based diet is healthiest”.
So, if you’re not doing so already, I invite you to leave animal foods off your plate forever.
What you eat is really important to determine the impact you have on the planet.
For all of us with basic access to food options, going vegan has never been easier.
It’s just a matter of changing your habits, and there are tons of wonderful recipes, vegan
starter-kits and other online resources that can help anyone make the switch.
Thank you very much.