By Every day the rainforests that endangered Borneo Orangutans depend on for their survival are destroyed to make way for palm plantations.
Palm oil companies like PT Bumitama Gunajaya Agro (PT BGA), a subsidiary of Bumitama Agri Ltd, send in bulldozers to clear the forest so they can plant palm trees. Sometimes individual orangutans are hurt, captured and sold, or shot and killed. Thankfully, some are found and saved by trained orangutan rescue teams.
This is a photo essay of an orangutan rescue in an area being cleared by PT BGA in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
“We were asked by the local forestry department to assist in the rescue of some orangutans found in a palm plantation area in Ketapang while the land clearing was taking place,” says Karmele Llano Sánchez, BVSc, MSc, Executive Director, Yayasan IAR Indonesia. “We deployed our team and found a number of orangutans were stranded, starving and in need of immediate medical attention. This orangutan rescue is an example of the rescues that our teams are frequently doing in areas where palm oil companies are clearing forests to make way for new palm oil plantations “
WARNING: Some of these pictures are fairly graphic and might be hard to look at. The orangutan is stunned though, not dead. Still, these photos tell a story that is at once tragic and uplifting. 
We are witnessing the last stand for the orangutan. Their fate is in the palm of our hands.
Make a stand for the orangutan by joining RAN’s Palm Oil Action Team.
August 19th is World Orangutan Day. Show your support for the orangutan rescue teams by attending the World Orangutan Event on Facebook.