This photo was taken on the main lawn at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue Center, which is managed by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS). The rescue center is located in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). BOS Nyaru Menteng is the largest orangutan rescue facility in the world and is home to more than 600 orphaned and displaced orangutans.
Every afternoon the young orangutans come back from Forest School and spend time on the main lawn playing with their friends and resting before going to bed. Their babysitters, local ladies from the nearby Dayak village, give them snacks and milk. They then take them to bed. This little guy in the photo clearly had other plans.
Orangutans are critically endangered in the wild because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations into their rainforest home. If nothing is done to protect these amazing creatures, they will be extinct in just a few years.
Photographer: Richard Zimmerman, Executive Director of Orangutan Outreach.
Photographer: Richard Zimmerman, Executive Director of Orangutan Outreach.
More info: redapes.org
Orangutan Outreach
