Orangutan Rescue in the Land of the Chainsaw

In early April 2015 iLCP Fellow Paul Hilton took part in an orangutan rescue in Sumatra, and he tells us the story at this link on our iLCP National Geographic Voices blog. As oil palm plantations continue devastating Indonesia’s rainforests, animals like the orangutan are left with ever-decreasing, and impoverished habitats, threatening their survival.

The team from Orangutan Information Centre quickly conduct a routine medical check up before relocating Friday the male Sumatran Orangutan, to a larger body of forest inside the Leuser ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia.  A recent report by the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) revealed that the rate of forest loss in the Leuser Ecosystem has more than doubled in recent years. Analysis of satellite maps confirmed the alarming scale of forest destruction in this unique ecosystem. Photo: Paul Hilton for OIC

The team from Orangutan Information Centre quickly conduct a routine medical check up before relocating Friday the male Sumatran Orangutan, to a larger body of forest inside the Leuser ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia. A recent report by the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) revealed that the rate of forest loss in the Leuser Ecosystem has more than doubled in recent years. Analysis of satellite maps confirmed the alarming scale of forest destruction in this unique ecosystem. Photo: Paul Hilton for OIC