Voice of the Voiceless: The Question is not Whether Animals Can Speak, but Whether We Can Listen

What if the Sumatran tigers could speak? What if the orangutans could tell you how it feels to lose their home? Right now, deep in the forests of Indonesia, three majestic species: orangutans, elephants, and tigers are silently disappearing. They cannot cry out for help, they cannot write an article, and they cannot fight against bulldozers tearing down their world. We are their only voice. This article seeks to speak for them, to share their untold stories, and to remind us why saving them is not only about wildlife but it is also about the future of our planet.

The Silent Crisis

In March 2025, a haunting video from East Kutai, East Kalimantan, went viral across YouTube and TikTok. Filmed by a local driver named Ahmad Baihaqi, the footage showed a starving orangutan wandering aimlessly near coal mining sites. Its forest, once lush and green, had turned into a dusty industrial zone. Sadly, this heartbreaking moment is echoed in countless other places. Across Borneo and Sumatra, thousands of orangutans face extinction as their homes are destroyed for palm oil plantations, mining, and logging. Some are even forced to beg for food near roads, which is an image that speaks louder than words about their desperate struggle to survive.

Similarly, the Sumatran tiger faces the same grim reality. According to the conservation organization ZSL (Zoological Society of London), the Sumatran tiger, which was once the silent ruler of the jungle, now walks on the edge of oblivion. With fewer than 400 individuals left in the wild, every snare, every poaching incident erases the species itself. It is an erasure of a species. In April 2025, Indonesian authorities arrested six men for brutally killing a tiger in Riau. Another tiger was found with its leg torn off by a snare in West Sumatra. These are not just numbers or headlines; instead, they are silent screams echoing in the forest, unheard by those who choose not to listen.

Likewise, elephants are no safer. In many parts of Sumatra, they wander into farmlands searching for food, only to be met with traps, poison, and hostility. In Way Kambas, wild elephants have raided crops for years, causing conflict that has killed or injured 24 people. As reported by Kompas.com in April 2025, a wild elephant was found dead in Aceh, suspected of poisoning on a palm oil plantation. The root cause is clear: habitat loss. WWF (World Wildlife Fund) reports that Sumatra has lost more than 69% of its elephant habitat in just 25 years. As their forest vanish, elephants stray into farms and villages, where survival often turns into deadly conflict with humans.

If They Could Speak

“If I could speak,” whispers the Sumatran tiger, “I would tell you how the jungle once sang with life. Now, it is silent, except for the sound of chainsaws and gunshots. My brothers and sisters are gone, taken for our skin, our bones, as if we were nothing more than trophies.” But since they cannot speak, we must be the ones who do.

The orangutan looks at us with tired eyes. “You call me the guardian of the forest, yet you burn my home. I have no tree to climb, no fruit to eat. You take everything, and still, I do not hate you. I only ask for a place to live.”

And then, the elephant speaks with a heavy heart. “We once walked endless green corridors, my family and I. Now, the paths are broken by roads and fences. When we wander into your fields, you call us invaders. But it was you who invaded first.”

If these animals could speak, their voices would not ask for luxury. Instead, they would ask for survival and a chance to live without fear of bullets, chains, or fire. But since they cannot speak, we must be the ones who do.

Why Their Voice Matters to Us

Why should we care? Because their survival is tied to ours. Orangutans are known as the “gardeners of the forest,” as they spread seeds that grow into the trees producing the oxygen we breathe. Without them, forest will die, and so will the life that depends on them, including us.

Moreover, tigers are apex predators. They keep the ecosystem balanced by controlling prey populations. If tigers vanish, prey species multiply uncontrollably, leading to the collapse of the entire food chain. In the same way, elephants play a crucial role. They create clearings in forests, allowing sunlight to reach the ground and new plants to grow. They are nature’s architects.

Thus, when we destroy their homes, we also destroy the planet’s lungs, water sources, and climate stability. The extinction of these species is not only their loss but also humanity’s greatest loss. By protecting them, we protect our forest, our climate, and our future.

How We Can Be Their Voice

So, how do we speak for the voiceless? We begin by refusing to stay silent. Share their stories, write their pain into words, paint their hope into art, and teach others why their survival matters. Silence is the enemy of change, and our voices are the only bridge between their suffering and the world’s awareness.

We can also stand beside those who fight every day in the frontlines of conservation. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, WWF, and local wildlife patrols risk their lives so that these animals can keep theirs. Even the smallest donation, the simplest act of support can mean food for a rescued orangutan or fuel for a patrol that stops a poacher.

But speaking for them also means changing the way we live. Every product we choose, every brand we support, carries a consequence. When we avoid goods linked to deforestation or illegal palm oil, we choose to protect their homes. When we reduce single-use plastics, we choose clean rivers where elephants and orangutans still drink.

Finally, our voice must rise beyond whispers. Hold leaders and companies accountable when they trade forests for profit. Alone, one voice may tremble. But together our voices can roar louder than chainsaws, louder than gunshots and loud enough for the world to finally listen.

The question is not whether animals can speak, but whether we can listen. The orangutan does not write petitions, the tiger does not tweet, and the elephant does not march in protests. But their silence is not consent; it is a cry for help, waiting for us to answer. When we choose to speak for them, we are not only saving wildlife; we are saving the very future we share. They need us now, and we must not remain silent.