Sometimes it takes animals to remind us how to behave. In a world which feels so cruel at times and when everyone seems at odds with each other, one orangutan reminded us all what’s really important.
The beautiful moment was captured on camera and the picture went viral; it’s just the most extraordinary sight and such a moving encounter between the ape and the man.
The warden was in waters in Borneo clearing snakes which pose a threat to the Indonesian island’s critically endangered apes.
As he wades in up to his torso an orangutan stops and offers him his hand.
Amateur photographer Anil Prabhakar was on safari at a conservation forest run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation(BOS) when he witnessed the tender moment, instinctively snapping a picture of the two.
‘It was really emotional’
“I saw an orangutan come very close to him and just offer him his hand,” he said, according to CNN.
“I never expected something like that, I just grabbed that moment. It was really emotional.
“It seemed as if the orangutan was saying ‘May I help you’ to the man,” he said.
Venomous snakes pose a threat to the apes along with forest fires, hunting and loss of habitat.
Anil, who is a geologist from Kerala in India, said in response to the ape holding out his hand the warden moved away and climbed out. When Anil asked why he didn’t take the ape’s hand he was reminded by the warden that the apes are completely wild and therefore unpredictable.
Anil posted the image on his Instagram page with the words: “Let me help you?: Once Humanity dying in Mankind, sometime animals are guiding us back to our basics.”
His image has more than 77,000 likes so far with many saying how beautiful the photo is and some commending the warden for not taking the ape’s hand.
What do you think of this image? Please comment on our Facebook page and don’t forget to share.
