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Tans For The Memory (Orangutans)

I have often seen orang-utans kept captive in a zoo;
To meet one, in the wild, would be a dream come true.
Without human help, orang-utans may cease to exist;
Their presence on earth would be very sorely missed.

They will never refuse a kind human’s helping hand,
But, it is the poachers who they are unable to stand.
On the forest floor, they forage for fresh, juicy fruit.
The baby orang-utans especially, are really rather cute.

When meeting an orang-utan, you realise how smart they are;
With the human mind, orang-utans are almost on a level par.
Just like us humans, they experience real thoughts and feelings;
News that they are being slaughtered, has really left me reeling.

These defenceless creatures are unable to escape the slaughter;
Their numbers have now been cut down by more than a quarter.
Wealthy businessmen are paying people to shoot orang-utans dead;
Humans are killing them, when we should be helping them instead.

Their habitat has been dramatically reduced by deforestation;
Trees are chopped down, to make way for palm oil plantations.
The adults are shot, but, often, the terrified babies are saved;
As posh people’s pets, they often find themselves enslaved.

On each of their heads, there hangs a seventy pound bill;
At the very thought of this, my bones are totally chilled.
Orang-utans are in desperate decline, and that is a sad fact;
Their numbers will keep on dwindling, unless we humans act.

poem by Angela Wybrow
Added by Poetry Lover
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