Heartbreaking video shows orangutan fighting off machine destroying its home
A heartbreaking video has emerged of an orangutan trying to fight off a digger destroying its forest habitat.
The footage, taken at the Sungai Putri forest in Borneo, was uploaded to Facebook by International Animal Rescue on Tuesday.
The orangutan can be seen running across a horizontal tree branch and reaching up to grab the excavator bucket.
As the bucket lifted into the air, the animal tries to hang on but tumbles off the branch and onto the ground below.
The animal charity captioned the video, saying they were able to rescue the orangutan and take him to safety.
“This desperate orangutan is frantically seeking refuge from the destructive power of the bulldozer; a machine that has already decimated everything else around him,” they said.
“Despite all the obstacles thrown at them, our team were able to rescue this orangutan and bring him to safety.
“Unfortunately, scenes like this are becoming more and more frequent in Indonesia.
“Deforestation has caused the orangutan population to plummet; habitats are destroyed and orangutans are left to starve and die.”
The video was reportedly filmed in 2013, but only released on Tuesday.
