The Fate of the Maleo
Oil exploration is threatening to push the maleo, a bird native to Sulawesi, to extinction.
October 8, 2002
THE afternoon sun scorches the sands of Saluan Beach on the island of Banggai in Central Sulawesi. A frail old man furtively moves behind the trees, his eyes fixed on the beach. Soaked in sweat, 64-year-old Jaling has been waiting for four hours for the maleos to come down and lay their eggs. But no maleo appears. In the four months he has been on the beach, only four maleos have shown up. "Well, what can we do now that the forests have been d
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