2026年4月27日 / 美国东部时间下午1:37 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
环保人士周一表示，研究人员首次拍到一只苏门答腊红毛猩猩使用人造树冠天桥，穿越印尼苏门答腊岛上的一条公共道路。
快速发展正在不断压缩这一极度濒危物种的丛林栖息地，人类与红毛猩猩之间的致命冲突也在增加。
这段由运动感应相机捕捉到的短暂画面显示，一只年轻的苏门答腊红毛猩猩在森林边缘停下，小心翼翼地抓住绳索，迈步踏入开阔地带。走到中途时，它停下脚步，低头看向下方的道路。
“随后它对着镜头俏皮地瞥了一眼，继续赶路，”苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会（SOS）在发布这段视频的社交媒体帖文中写道。
环保人士表示，这是首次有记录显示这种濒临灭绝的物种使用人工树冠天桥，穿越分隔其栖息地的公共道路。
“这正是我们一直等待的时刻，”印尼环保组织“赤道森林坚韧”（TaHuKah）的执行董事欧文·阿拉姆西亚·西雷加尔告诉美联社。“我们非常欣慰，这里的天桥为红毛猩猩的保护工作带来了切实益处。”
他表示，这座天桥横跨北苏门答腊省帕帕克巴拉特县的拉根-帕金达尔公路，这条公路是偏远村庄连接学校、医疗设施和政府服务的重要通道。但这条公路也直接穿过了一片优质红毛猩猩栖息地，将约350只红毛猩猩分隔成两个与世隔绝的森林区域： Siranggas野生动物保护区和Sikulaping保护林。
2024年公路升级后，森林冠层的缺口进一步扩大，树栖野生动物的自然穿越路径被彻底切断。
“发展对当地民众来说是必要的，”西雷加尔说。“但如果不采取干预措施，红毛猩猩将被困在道路两侧。”
TaHuKah与苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会以及地方和国家政府机构合作，提出了一个简单的解决方案：在树木之间悬挂绳索天桥，让树栖动物可以在车流上方通行。
虽然包括长臂猿和长尾猕猴在内的其他物种也被拍到使用过这座天桥，但“这对苏门答腊红毛猩猩来说仍是全球首例”，苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会告诉法新社。
在这张由苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会/TaHuKah提供的未注明日期的照片中，一只苏门答腊红毛猩猩正在穿越印尼北苏门答腊省帕帕克巴拉特县一条公路上方的树冠天桥。苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会/TaHuKah 供图/美联社
“已有一只红毛猩猩成功穿越，但仍有350只红毛猩猩处于隔离状态，”苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会在社交媒体的一份声明中表示。
该协会共安装了五座树冠天桥，每座天桥都配备了相机陷阱，安装位置经过了红毛猩猩巢穴、森林覆盖率和动物活动情况的详细勘测。这些天桥的承重设计需满足红毛猩猩的体重要求——对于这种世界上最大的树栖哺乳动物来说，这绝非易事。
该项目受到严格监控：每座天桥都装有相机陷阱，同时定期巡逻以防止森林被侵占。环保人士希望更多红毛猩猩能效仿这位首位“先锋”。
“看到这只年轻的雄性红毛猩猩自信地穿越道路，是保护工作的一座重要里程碑——这证明我们能够将碎片化的森林重新连接起来，”苏门答腊红毛猩猩保护协会在社交媒体上写道。
他们等待了两年，才迎来第一只红毛猩猩成功过桥。在这次突破之前，只有体型更小的动物使用过天桥。相机陷阱记录到松鼠、叶猴和猕猴先后使用天桥，随后是长臂猿——这都是充满希望的信号。
红毛猩猩的试探过程则更为缓慢：它们会在天桥附近筑巢，在天桥边缘徘徊，逐步测试绳索的安全性。
“它们会观察，”西雷加尔说。“它们不会急于行动。它们观察、尝试、后退，直到确认安全后才会移动。”
后来有一天，它彻底穿越了天桥——环保人士表示，这不仅是苏门答腊红毛猩猩的首例，也是全球范围内红毛猩猩首次在公共道路上方使用人工天桥。
其他地区的红毛猩猩也曾使用过类似天桥，但通常是在河流上方或私人工业林道上。环保人士表示，公共道路嘈杂、车流密集且不可预测，带来的挑战要大得多。
对红毛猩猩而言，风险极高。栖息地隔离会导致近亲繁殖、基因弱化，最终引发种群灭绝。恢复连通性为它们提供了生存的机会。
这种曾经广泛分布于南亚的动物，如今仅存于苏门答腊岛和婆罗洲。根据环保组织的数据，野生苏门答腊红毛猩猩仅剩不到14000只，塔潘uli红毛猩猩仅约800只，婆罗洲红毛猩猩约104700只。
“这些天桥让红毛猩猩能够移动、混合种群，维持健康的群体规模，”西雷加尔说。“它降低了物种灭绝的风险。”
法新社对本文亦有贡献。
Endangered orangutan filmed using canopy bridge to cross public road in Indonesia: “A world first”
April 27, 2026 / 1:37 PM EDT / CBS/AP
A Sumatran orangutan has 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 the critically 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 a social 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.
While other species including gibbons and long-tailed macaques have also been spotted crossing there, “this is a world first for Sumatran orangutans,” SOS told AFP.
In this undated photo provided by the Sumatran Orangutan Society/TaHuKah, a Sumatran orangutan crosses a canopy bridge that stretches over a road in Pakpak Bharat, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Sumatran Orangutan Society/TaHuKah via AP
“One orangutan has crossed, but a population of 350 still remains isolated,” SOS said in a statement on social media.
Five canopy bridges were installed, each with a camera trap, carefully positioned after surveys of orangutan nests, forest cover and animal movement. The structures were designed to support the orangutan’s weight — no small feat for the world’s largest tree‑dwelling mammal.
The program is closely monitored, with camera traps on every bridge and regular patrols to prevent forest encroachment. Conservationists hope more orangutans will follow the first pioneer.
“Seeing this young male orangutan confidently cross the road is a huge milestone for conservation — proving that it is possible to stitch fragmented forests back together,” SOS said on social media.
They waited two years for the first orangutan to cross the bridge. Before the accomplishment, only smaller animals used it. Camera traps recorded squirrels, langur monkeys and macaques, followed by gibbons — a promising sign.
The orangutan’s approach was slower, building nests near the bridge, lingering at its edges and testing the ropes over time.
“They observe,” Siregar said. “They don’t rush. They watch, they try, they retreat. Only when they’re certain it’s safe do they move.”
Then, one day, he crossed fully — a first not just for Sumatra, but for the species globally on a public road, conservationists say.
Similar bridges have been used by orangutans elsewhere, but usually over rivers or on private industrial forest roads. Conservationists say public roads — noisy, busy and unpredictable — pose a far greater challenge.
For orangutans, the stakes are high. Isolation leads to inbreeding, genetic weakening and eventual population collapse. Restoring connectivity gives them a chance to survive.
Once widespread across southern Asia, the animal now only survives on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild, alongside just 800 Tapanuli orangutans and about 104,700 Bornean orangutans, according to conservation groups.
“These bridges allow orangutans to move, to mix, to maintain healthy populations,” Siregar said. “It reduces the risk of extinction.”
AFP contributed to this report.
发表回复