Due to land issues, there is an inevitable clash between wildlife (the orangutans) and humans. Conflict like this usually occurs when there is an overlap between the needs of both species. For example, with their rapidly shrinking habitat, orangutans who travel great distances for food tend to wander out of the forests and look for food on farms of communities nearby. Humans living in that community need the farms to survive, as that is their livelihood.
There are three types of human-animal relationships:
- Mutualistic: the animals are unable to live without humans, and provide valuable services. A good example will be the relationship between humans and domesticated dogs.
- Parasitic: the animals thrive in humans environments and have the ability to destroy homes and lives of humans. An example would be the relationship between cockroaches/mosquitoes and humans.
- Commensal: the animals live in harmony with humans and gain advantages from the human environment, but do not cause much grief.
Currently, the relationship between orangutans and locals in Borneo is defined as parasitic due to the clash of interests. In actual fact, orangutans are invaluable to humans in ensuring that the forests continue to thrive and provide benefits. As orangutans are important for the health of the forests, the relationship needs to ideally be at the mutualistic stage, where humans recognize the importance of these great apes to them.
Such conflicts can be resolved through human management of the situation and this has already been implemented to a certain degree in education.