Dyna Rochmyaningsih A threat to the world’s rarest ape has receded. After an international pressure campaign, the Bank of China this summer abandoned its plan to finance the Batang Toru hydropower project, which would further reduce the tiny habitat of the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), officially recognized as a separate species only 3 years ago.
In the wake of the move, scientists and conservationists are calling for a new, independent scientific assessment of the population and an effort to save the species, which has frizzier, lighter colored hair than its relatives.The bank did not respond to requests for comment from Science, and the company building the project, P.T.