Natural History Museum - The plight of orangutans, extraordinary photographs

 

Entwined lives

American photographer Tim Laman won Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016 for his image, Entwined lives. It frames a critically endangered Bornean orangutan above the Indonesian rainforest. Tim spent three days rope-climbing the 30 metre tall tree to set several GoPro cameras that he could trigger remotely. This captured the orangutan's face from above within a wide-angle perspective of the forest below. Find out about the plight of wild orangutans and why it is critical to protect their habitat. Find out more While the forest still stands What to eat, how to catch termites, make a pillow or build a nest... orangutans aren’t born with this kind of knowledge, they learn it. We have so much still to discover about this behaviour, but we may not have the chance. Orangutans are now critically endangered due to habitat loss, poaching, the illegal pet trade and increased conflict with humans. For Tim Laman, the challenge was to reveal glimpses of the lives and the culture of truly wild orangutans while also reporting on the unfolding tragedy. Explore the photographs