The following moments were captured by Indonesian nature photographer Anil Prabhakar after a beautiful act of kindness stepping into the jungle. It was a wild orangutan that offered someone a helping hand after they stuck in the mud. He always believed his work may have the power to elicit social and emotional change. He became involved with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in 2019. He visited the foundation to learn more about the program.
While on a tour of the foundations protect land, he saw a crew member entering a small river while approaching the orangutan’s habitat. He asked why the man was doing that. They said that a snake was spotted over there. Poisonous snakes are dangerous to orangutans. So they have to take care of those things. So the fellow started cleaning the bushes along the river. He was moving in slow motion because his legs were getting stuck in the mud. Suddenly the orangutan came closer to the river banks sat there and watched what this fellow was doing.
When he struggled to pull out his legs the orangutan put her left hand on the bank of the river and extended her other hand towards him. That was a lovely moment. The orangutan ignored the extended hand. That was out for three minutes trying to help the man. Instead, he moved away.
He never expected to see anything like that. The orangutan was trying to help him.
Prabhakar asked the man why he didn’t accept the orangutan’s help. He explained that he was only there as a lifeguard and mustn’t engage with the wild animals.
