There are only three places left in the world where orangutans can be found in the wild.

These are the northern parts of Sumatra in Indonesia and the island of Borneo, with a dwindling population in Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia.

The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is now critically endangered, with populations in sharp decline due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting.

Creating awareness and conservation efforts are key to stopping the decline of these incredible creatures, and a recently shared photograph has reawakened the world to their plight.

CNN explains:

Amateur photographer Anil Prabhakar captured the fleeting moment, in which one of the Indonesian island’s apes stretched out its hand to help a man out of snake-infested water.

Source: Anil Prabhakar / Instagram

Prabhakar was on a safari with friends at a conservation forest run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) when he witnessed the scene.

The apes are brought to the conservation forest if they are hurt, or at risk from hunters. Once they are healthy, they are returned to the wild.

Venomous snakes have been known to bite Borneo’s orangutans, so when the ape saw the man in snake-infested waters, he didn’t hesitate to help.

Prabhakar describes the encounter:

“There was a report of snakes in that area so the warden came over and he’s clearing snakes.

“I saw an orangutan come very close to him and just offer him his hand.”

Prabhakar said it was difficult for the guard to move in the muddy, flowing water. It seemed as if the orangutan was saying “May I help you”? to the man, he said.

Source: Anil Prabhakar / Instagram

“I really wasn’t able to click,” he said. “I never expected something like that.

“I just grabbed that moment. It was really emotional.”

The guard didn’t take the ape’s hand, because he was unsure of what it would do once he was out of the water.

The entire encounter lasted only a few minutes.

At the time of writing, the post, which Prabhakar shared on Instagram, has been liked over 62 000 times.

As he writes in the caption, “sometimes animals are guiding us back to our basics”.

[source:cnn]