The act of cutting down a tree. Usually done today with power saws, but axes and hand saws are still used in some areas. The cutting of logs to a uniform and manageable length before they are sent to a sawmill. The process of transporting logs from the forest to a sawmill. This may use systems of cables and pulleys high above the ground, pack animals, trucks or helicopters.
Rain forests are biologically dense and diverse, providing habitat for half the species on earth.
Marked by bamboo and heavy underbrush, monsoon forests are usually dominated by trees that shed their leaves for the dry season and grow new ones for the rainy season. The Sumatran tiger, one of the five surviving tiger subspecies, is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where most of its rain forest habitat has been cleared for agriculture. Authorities estimate that there are only 400 Sumatran tigers living in the wild, and another 210 in zoos. In addition to the disappearance of their habitat, orangutans are threatened by poaching for meat, souvenirs or pets.