WATCH: Orangutan refuses to leave its tree, attempts to stop bulldozer with its bare hands

This newly-released footage from the NGO International Animal Rescue shows an orangutan in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan in Borneo refusing to leave his tree to loggers and his valiant attempt to stop the bulldozer that is destroying it with his bare hands.




According to IAR’s caption to the video, “This desperate orangutan is frantically seeking refuge from the destructive power of the bulldozer; a machine that has already decimated everything else around him.”

The orangutan can be seen falling off the tree in the video before getting back up. IAR says that their team was able to rescue the primate and bring him to safety.

In 2016, the Bornean orangutan was added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s “Red List” of species that are on the verge of extinction due to growing pressure from humans including illegal poaching and the destruction of their natural habitats.  

Around 100,000 orangutans are believed to live on the island of Borneo, down from 288,500 in 1973. Their numbers expected to shrink to 47,000 by 2025 and IUCN warned they could be extinct within 50 years.




Groups like IAR are working to save as many orangutans as they can. One of IAR’s programs, which they are promoting through the sharing of the above video, is a reforestation project to help restore the some 2.5 million acres of Indonesian rainforest (and orangutan habitat) that are being lost every year. For more information on donating to that project and IAR’s orangutan rescue work, you can check out their website.

 

 



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