DR IAN SINGLETON: The best thing you can do to a little orangutan is get it as quickly as possible with another little orangutan. We don't want to humanise them because they're on the road to freedom again.
Hi, guys. How is life?
When you tickle them, they laugh.
You want a tickle, you do don’t you? No. But you do, don't you? That's a very ticklish orangutan, that is.
Dr Ian Singleton is introducing me to some of the orangutans under his care.
DR IAN SINGLETON: This one is Losa, he was shot at by a bunch of farmers 62 times with an air rifle. He's blind in both eyes because he got two pellets in one eye and one in the other. We have taken 14 pellets outs of him but he has 48 inside him.
Dr Singleton’s orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre is deep in the Sumatran jungle, it is home to 400 rescued orangutans. All of them have experienced trauma. Many of them were taken from the wild and kept illegally as pets.
DR IAN SINGLETON: On many occasions, I have actually gone on the confiscations and we have found orangutans chained to somebody's chicken shed and starving and malnourished. You realise if you hadn't done that, these animals would have died in somebody's back garden.
WOMAN (Translation): It’s bad for orangutans, who are like people. It’s really not healthy being in conditions like these. Look at his head?
Every month Dr Singleton and his team conduct rescue missions. This baby was saved from wildlife traffickers during an undercover operation.
DR IAN SINGLETON: We'll get a quick body weight, then get him on here and start the procedure.
Today, Dr Singleton is inserting a tracking chip.
DR IAN SINGLETON: This is a young male orangutan. He's been here between six months and a year. Look at him. They're as human as you can get. He's in good condition. He has plenty of meat on him. He's not overweight. His hair is nice and soft.
REPORTER: What shape was he in when he came in?
DR IAN SINGLETON: He was much thinner than this, surviving in a patch of fragmented forest with hardly any food. So he's doing well.
This is what's happening to the orangutans' habitat. Vast areas have been cut down for palm oil plantations and this is the result. Dr Singleton estimates there are only 6,600 Sumatran orangutans on the island now.
Today, Dr Singleton and his team are heading to Tripa forest, a protected peat swamp in Aceh and home to one of the densest population of orangutan in the world. It's a long flight over the palm plantations.
DR IAN SINGLETON: Big companies. Big estates and pretty much nothing else until you get to the edge of the forest - 200 years ago this would have been orangutan mecca.
This was Tripa forest in March this year. Environmentalists say these fires were started illegally by palm oil companies, clearing land for their plantations.
DR IAN SINGLETON: My suggestion is that me, Jess, David and Ouisa go in one car and we also pick up…
On the ground, Dr Singleton and his team discuss how to get into Tripa to assess the damage.
DR IAN SINGLETON: The most important thing is to get the footage, yeah? If we're lucky, both cars get in. If we're not lucky, one car gets in.
JESSICA MCKELSON, ZOOLOGIST: They don't want the world to know that they're illegally causing deforestation.
Jessica McKelson is a zoologist and primate expert. She says sneaking in to the area is risky business.
JESSICA MCKELSON: They don't want people seeing the damage they've already contributed to. It's illegal - Particularly television crews, anything around media. It just highlights what damage they have done and they don't want to be in that position.
The destruction in Tripa is worse than they expected.
JESSICA MCKELSON: I'm absolutely, I'm gobsmacked. I don't even know what to say. You see it on TV. You see it on the Internet. You see how bad and serious the issue is but you can't comprehend how much damage has actually been done. I'm, I'm lost for words.
DR IAN SINGLETON: This used to be an orangutan population of 2,000, 3,000 animals easily. One or two have made it to the quarantine centre, all the rest are dead.
This male was one of the lucky ones.
MAN (Translation): Three, Two, one… Inject him.
Trapped in one of the remaining pockets of Tripa forest when Dr Singleton's team found him, he was in a bad way - distressed and malnourished.
REPORTER: It's not just the orangutans, is it?
DR IAN SINGLETON: Yeah, there are still a few tigers living in this forest behind us. You can hear gibbons in the distance. There are a whole range of species. As a result of this forest destruction and peat land degradation, Indonesia is actually the third biggest emitter of carbon in the world and as a result of that, it has pledged to reduce their emissions by at least 20%. The government created a moratorium map, a map of areas which were off limits to new concessions in forests and peat lands. This particular area where we are standing right now, this Kallista Alam plantation area was on that map as off limits.
In April, environmentalists took the palm oil company Kallista Alam to court for illegal clearing. But the case was thrown out on a technicality and the company denies any wrong doing. As bleak as this picture seems, things might be changing.
DR IAN SINGLETON: The government of Indonesia now, its own carbon task force is investigating the activities of not just this illegal plantation here but also the activities of the other plantations in the area.
And here in Tankahan, rangers run elephant patrols to monitor and protect the forests.
JESSICA MCKELSON: Poaching, illegal logging, any illegal activities in the forest, they survey and patrol the main path where the timber would come out of the forest and they report back to the Forestry Department each time.
The elephants also have another role.
JESSICA MCKELSON: They are used for eco-tourism, by allowing guests to bathe and interact with them - it also raises funds to look after the elephants.
For Jessica, conservation and eco-tourism go hand in hand. It's fine to save the orangutan - she has set up a travel agency.
JESSICA MCKELSON: The visitors that have decided that they want to come along and join us to visit this location, the forests and where the orangutans live. We're going to educate them around orangutans and their jungle home. And we will also give them an experience that they'll leave and feel empowered to make a difference when they get back home.
DR IAN SINGLETON: So this is where all the little kids are waiting to go back to the forest.
Back at the orangutan centre, Dr Singleton is discussing his favourite part of the rescue and rehabilitation process.
DR IAN SINGLETON: These guys are all ready to go and just waiting for the cages in chundo to be emptied and we can send them up.
JESSICA MCKELSON: How many have you released now this year?
DR IAN SINGLETON: This year? Probably about 12.
JESSICA MCKELSON: 12. Yep.
DR IAN SINGLETON: Should be a few more than that. You lose track after a couple of hundred. When you ask about ‘how do I feel about seeing orangutans in this cage’, I'm actually quite happy. It’s really nice when we get them here, sometimes you see their eyes light up when they see the other orangutans and the opportunity to play again. These are actually learning to be orangutans again, and learning all the little airs and graces. How to be sociable with other orangutans again and they'll go from here to the release site as a little group of buddies, mates.
Hi, guys. How is life?
When you tickle them, they laugh.
You want a tickle, you do don’t you? No. But you do, don't you? That's a very ticklish orangutan, that is.
Dr Ian Singleton is introducing me to some of the orangutans under his care.
DR IAN SINGLETON: This one is Losa, he was shot at by a bunch of farmers 62 times with an air rifle. He's blind in both eyes because he got two pellets in one eye and one in the other. We have taken 14 pellets outs of him but he has 48 inside him.
Dr Singleton’s orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre is deep in the Sumatran jungle, it is home to 400 rescued orangutans. All of them have experienced trauma. Many of them were taken from the wild and kept illegally as pets.
DR IAN SINGLETON: On many occasions, I have actually gone on the confiscations and we have found orangutans chained to somebody's chicken shed and starving and malnourished. You realise if you hadn't done that, these animals would have died in somebody's back garden.
WOMAN (Translation): It’s bad for orangutans, who are like people. It’s really not healthy being in conditions like these. Look at his head?
Every month Dr Singleton and his team conduct rescue missions. This baby was saved from wildlife traffickers during an undercover operation.
DR IAN SINGLETON: We'll get a quick body weight, then get him on here and start the procedure.
Today, Dr Singleton is inserting a tracking chip.
DR IAN SINGLETON: This is a young male orangutan. He's been here between six months and a year. Look at him. They're as human as you can get. He's in good condition. He has plenty of meat on him. He's not overweight. His hair is nice and soft.
REPORTER: What shape was he in when he came in?
DR IAN SINGLETON: He was much thinner than this, surviving in a patch of fragmented forest with hardly any food. So he's doing well.
This is what's happening to the orangutans' habitat. Vast areas have been cut down for palm oil plantations and this is the result. Dr Singleton estimates there are only 6,600 Sumatran orangutans on the island now.
Today, Dr Singleton and his team are heading to Tripa forest, a protected peat swamp in Aceh and home to one of the densest population of orangutan in the world. It's a long flight over the palm plantations.
DR IAN SINGLETON: Big companies. Big estates and pretty much nothing else until you get to the edge of the forest - 200 years ago this would have been orangutan mecca.
This was Tripa forest in March this year. Environmentalists say these fires were started illegally by palm oil companies, clearing land for their plantations.
DR IAN SINGLETON: My suggestion is that me, Jess, David and Ouisa go in one car and we also pick up…
On the ground, Dr Singleton and his team discuss how to get into Tripa to assess the damage.
DR IAN SINGLETON: The most important thing is to get the footage, yeah? If we're lucky, both cars get in. If we're not lucky, one car gets in.
JESSICA MCKELSON, ZOOLOGIST: They don't want the world to know that they're illegally causing deforestation.
Jessica McKelson is a zoologist and primate expert. She says sneaking in to the area is risky business.
JESSICA MCKELSON: They don't want people seeing the damage they've already contributed to. It's illegal - Particularly television crews, anything around media. It just highlights what damage they have done and they don't want to be in that position.
The destruction in Tripa is worse than they expected.
JESSICA MCKELSON: I'm absolutely, I'm gobsmacked. I don't even know what to say. You see it on TV. You see it on the Internet. You see how bad and serious the issue is but you can't comprehend how much damage has actually been done. I'm, I'm lost for words.
DR IAN SINGLETON: This used to be an orangutan population of 2,000, 3,000 animals easily. One or two have made it to the quarantine centre, all the rest are dead.
This male was one of the lucky ones.
MAN (Translation): Three, Two, one… Inject him.
Trapped in one of the remaining pockets of Tripa forest when Dr Singleton's team found him, he was in a bad way - distressed and malnourished.
REPORTER: It's not just the orangutans, is it?
DR IAN SINGLETON: Yeah, there are still a few tigers living in this forest behind us. You can hear gibbons in the distance. There are a whole range of species. As a result of this forest destruction and peat land degradation, Indonesia is actually the third biggest emitter of carbon in the world and as a result of that, it has pledged to reduce their emissions by at least 20%. The government created a moratorium map, a map of areas which were off limits to new concessions in forests and peat lands. This particular area where we are standing right now, this Kallista Alam plantation area was on that map as off limits.
In April, environmentalists took the palm oil company Kallista Alam to court for illegal clearing. But the case was thrown out on a technicality and the company denies any wrong doing. As bleak as this picture seems, things might be changing.
DR IAN SINGLETON: The government of Indonesia now, its own carbon task force is investigating the activities of not just this illegal plantation here but also the activities of the other plantations in the area.
And here in Tankahan, rangers run elephant patrols to monitor and protect the forests.
JESSICA MCKELSON: Poaching, illegal logging, any illegal activities in the forest, they survey and patrol the main path where the timber would come out of the forest and they report back to the Forestry Department each time.
The elephants also have another role.
JESSICA MCKELSON: They are used for eco-tourism, by allowing guests to bathe and interact with them - it also raises funds to look after the elephants.
For Jessica, conservation and eco-tourism go hand in hand. It's fine to save the orangutan - she has set up a travel agency.
JESSICA MCKELSON: The visitors that have decided that they want to come along and join us to visit this location, the forests and where the orangutans live. We're going to educate them around orangutans and their jungle home. And we will also give them an experience that they'll leave and feel empowered to make a difference when they get back home.
DR IAN SINGLETON: So this is where all the little kids are waiting to go back to the forest.
Back at the orangutan centre, Dr Singleton is discussing his favourite part of the rescue and rehabilitation process.
DR IAN SINGLETON: These guys are all ready to go and just waiting for the cages in chundo to be emptied and we can send them up.
JESSICA MCKELSON: How many have you released now this year?
DR IAN SINGLETON: This year? Probably about 12.
JESSICA MCKELSON: 12. Yep.
DR IAN SINGLETON: Should be a few more than that. You lose track after a couple of hundred. When you ask about ‘how do I feel about seeing orangutans in this cage’, I'm actually quite happy. It’s really nice when we get them here, sometimes you see their eyes light up when they see the other orangutans and the opportunity to play again. These are actually learning to be orangutans again, and learning all the little airs and graces. How to be sociable with other orangutans again and they'll go from here to the release site as a little group of buddies, mates.