Hardi Baktiantoro, director of the Centre for Orangutan Protection, said at least 1,500 orangutans perished in 2006, most as a result of deliberate attacks but also due to their jungle habitat making way for palm oil plantations.

"Orangutans have become the victims of torture by plantation workers as they wander and eat palm oil seedlings for survival," Baktiantoro said yesterday.

The workers had to pay concession companies for the loss of seedlings, he said, so they saw no choice but to pursue the primates.

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He showed video footage of dead orangutans with severe head wounds allegedly inflicted by workers as well as severely injured animals being treated by COP and other rescue teams.

Baktiantoro said that "even though this kind of cruelty violates Indonesia's law on biodiversity conservation, no one until now has been arrested."

COP urged the government to immediately cancel concessions to palm oil companies to protect the orangutans.

"Central Kalimantan is the final frontier of the orangutan population in Indonesia," said Baktiantoro.

"If the forest clearing continues, we will soon lose our national treasure." Scientists say about 34,000 orangutans remain in Kalimantan.

Vice president Jusuf Kalla has said that Indonesia plans to be the largest palm oil producer by 2008 amid strong demand from the global food, bio-fuel and chemicals industries.

Indonesia is currently second to Malaysia although it has a much larger area for plantations. They account for 85 percent of world production.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE