We can learn a lot from these loveable creatures

I recently read an article about a captive Orangutan in Japan who's been breaking up fights between other apes at Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo and I think that humans could learn a lot from this gentle orange mediator.

On a recent holiday to Malaysian Borneo, I fell in love with these adorable creatures when I went to visit some orphaned Orangutans at a rehabilitation sanctuary in Sabah. The little guys were no more than two or three years old and, despite the fact that adult Orangutans are generally solitary creatures, they cuddled each other and played just like human babies do.

They were so adorable, I kept jokingly asking my boyfriend, "Can we keep them!?" But I'm all too aware that the best course of action for these little fellas is to be released back into the jungle where they can hopefully learn to thrive again. 

Rehabilitaion centres like the one I visited as Rasa Ria and Sepilok Sanctuary in Sarawak are doing their best to help Orangutans readjust to the wild as their numbers are fast depleting and many are being displaced - and even kept illegally in cages as pets by local villagers - due to logging to make way for vast palm oil plantations.

Orangutan literally means 'man of the forest' but their forest is fast disappearing and they need humans to wake up and stop destroying their habitat. 

You can do your part to help save the Borneo Orangutan here or adopt an Orangutan for just £3 a month through the World Wildlife Fund.