Pregnant orang-utan hugs her daughter as bounty hunters in Borneo move in
As bounty hunters with bush knives entrapped them in a circle and moved in for the kill, the only thing this mother orang-utan could think to do was to wrap a giant protective arm around her daughter.
The pair seemed to be facing a certain death as a gang of hunters surrounded them in Borneo, keen to cash in on the palm oil plantations’ bid to be rideof the animals.
But, happily, a team from the British-based international animal rescue group Four Paws arrived in time to stop the slaughter and saved their lives.
The pregnant mother and daughter were captured and moved to a remote and safe area of the rainforest and released back into the wild - but not before the mother was equipped with a radio device so she and her young can be tracked to ensure they remain safe.
‘Our arrival could not have been more timely,’ said Dr Signe Preuschoft, a Four Paws primate expert.
Mother and daughter were captured and moved to a remote and safe area of the rainforest and released back into the wild - but not before the mother was equipped with a radio device so she and her young can be tracked to ensure they remain safe.
‘Our arrival could not have been more timely,’ said Dr Signe Preuschoft, a Four Paws primate expert.
‘A few minutes later and the orang-utans could have been dead.
‘We discovered a gang of young men surrounding them and both victims were clearly petrified.
‘The gang meanwhile were jubilant in anticipation of their rewards for catching and killing the animals. These massacres must not be allowed to continue.’
Rescue: When the animal rescue group found the ‘clearly petrified’ mother and baby they discovered a gang of young men who were looking to cash in on the palm oil companies’ offer of £70 per orang-utan
Before the rescue, a Four Paws team had scoured the area on the Indonesian side of Borneo, which is shared with Malaysia, but found no other orang-utans which had survived an earlier slaughter.
Deforestation has dramatically reduced their habitat and their numbers have dropped from 250,000 a few decades ago to only 50,000 in the wild.
