All language subtitles for Orangutans The Great Ape Escape BBC Natural World 2013 720p HDTV EN Sub_Subtitles01.ENG

Carried over the remote forests
of Borneo is a very precious cargo.

Meet Leonora.

She doesn't know it
but she is a pioneer.

With a handful of old friends,
Leonora is on an adventure
into the unknown.

She and her baby boy
are leaving behind the security
of a lifetime in captivity...

..for a chance of freedom.

For the chance of a new life

as a truly wild orangutan.

A quiet Monday morning
on Katya Island in southern Borneo.

Leonora is relaxing
in her cosy orangutan commune,

unaware of the life-changing events
around the corner.

Leonora and her friends are orphans

and in the safety
of their island sanctuary

they've developed
some unusual habits.

Orangutans are supposed to spend
all their time high in the trees.

Leonora has spent
the last eight years here...

with private health care

and twice daily deliveries
of the freshest fruit and veg.

It's far from a natural existence

but for many of them, it's
the only life they've ever known.

Hundreds of orphans have been saved

by the Borneo Orangutan
Survival Foundation.

Each animal has its own tragic story
to tell,

of homes destroyed
and mothers killed.

But here they've found new hope
and a new mother,

the centre's founder,
Lone Droscher Nielsen.

When they reach their little hands
and their little arms up

and go like, you know, "Please help,"

how can you not?

Oh, you know, your heart just sinks

when you look into their eyes
and see that, "Help me,"

you know, "Do something for me.
I need you."

And how anybody can turn
their back on that, I don't know.

They're so human
that to me it would be the same

as turning away
a child needing my help.

Lone's dream is to put
all her orphans back in the wild.

But it's taken nearly a decade
to start making it a reality.

Now, at last, she's about to release
the first eight orphans.

Their world is about to be turned
upside down.

And for Leonora,
she'll have the added challenge

of caring for her own little one,
mischievous Lamar.

Lone is particularly concerned
about Leonora.

She's so tame
that adapting to life in the wild

might just be too big a challenge.

When I saw Leonora
for the first time,

I thought, "She looks just like
my grandmother,"

hence the name Leonora.

When you look at her she's just
a very gentle, kind orangutan.

Do you want this? You want more?

Lone's brought Leonora
one of her favourite snacks -

sugar cane.

Take this.

That is nice.

Mm-hm!

So soon as she saw me
she came over towards me

and she grabbed my arm
straight away.

I like to think that she recognises
me and that she remembers me.

I mean, I did take care of her
for quite some years,

so there must be something
she remembers.

Hi, baby.

You're going to have a look
at my boots?

What do you think I've got? Those
are socks, and those are my legs,

and the socks can open out like this
and then close again.

Leonora seems to love company

but life in the wild will be
much more solitary.

Fortunately,
one of her closest friends, Emen,

has also been chosen for release.

Emen has already proved
to be a born survivor.

She came in and I remember everybody
just looked horrified

because four of her fingers
had been cut off.

It might have happened
when the mother was killed

because they hack them with machetes

and her hand, the baby's hand,
is always one on the back
and one on the front.

One of the first things
I did think about was

how is she going to ever,
you know, be able to climb trees?

Because she can't do anything
with that one thumb, can she?

But, you know,
she totally proved me wrong.

It's never, ever looked to be
a handicap.

Emen also has a son, little Embong.

And like Leonora's baby,
he's dependent on his mum.

MAN CALLING

It's time for their last meal
on the island.

But it looks like there might be
some gatecrashers!

Emen likes to ensure
she has her pick

of the freshest fruit and veg.

Nothing comes between her
and her beloved sweet corn.

Leonora and Emen sit back
to enjoy their last supper.

Finding food in the wild is going
to be much more difficult

but Lone has always tried
to give every orphan
some lessons in survival.

They're all graduates
of Lone's school.

Here their foster mothers teach them
the basics.

Show them how to find
different sources of food.

Encourage them to build nests
for sleeping.

And try to teach them
that they belong up in the trees.

Finally they graduate to the island,

the last stage
in their rehabilitation.

But for Leonora and Emen,
that was all a long time ago.

And no one knows if they'll be able
to cope in the wild.

The only thing that worries me is

that they've been on that island
a bit too long
and gotten too old.

You have mixed feelings
about the whole thing.

You're a bit scared
but you also have faith in them.

I have faith
in their intelligence.

So, I mean, I'm both happy
and very afraid at the same time.

There's a great deal riding
on the success or failure
of these eight orphans.

Over the last 12 years,
the rescue centre has been inundated

with orphaned
and rescued orangutans.

The numbers have swollen
to over 600 individuals.

After spending their day
in the forest,

they're returned to their cages.

They're bored in those cages,
even though we give them enrichment.

It shows in their eyes.
Their eyes tell everything.

They can't speak but, believe me,
when they look you deep in the eyes,

it's like, "Get me out of here."

The future of all these orangutans
is in the hands

of the eight pioneers.

Everything that we've been
working for, for the last 12 years

is obviously getting
these orangutans out.

If they make it,
we don't have any problems.

If they don't make it,
we'll have to reconsider

everything called
orangutan rehabilitation.

If we fail we are standing with
a very, very, very big problem.

BIRDS CALLING

The big day is finally here.

Leonora and Emen are on the lookout

for their early morning delivery
of cucumbers and bananas.

But there's no sign.

Lone and her team are loading
everything they need

for the big move.

Everything has been planned
with military precision.

Lone hopes Leonora will walk
into her crate

but is concerned about baby Lamar,
who's wary of people.

Emen might also prove a problem,
so they're preparing a sedative.

SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE

We've got both Emen and Leonora here,

so we should be able to get hold
of them quite quickly.

SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE

Leonora would normally do anything
to get her hands on fresh bananas.

Come on, Leonora.

If you're a good girl you can have
all these bananas inside the cage.

Would you like that? Hm, you get one.
You come with me.

She knows something's going on.

And then another problem.

A big male is moving in.

They might have to sedate him,

even though he's not been chosen
for release.

They're obviously not out to kill,
they're out to maim.

They try to get each other's hands,
particularly, go for the faces,

because if they can handicap
another male,

obviously they will have priority
in the forest.

For now, fresh sweet corn is enough
to keep him at bay.

At the other end of the beach,

Emen is being distracted
by some cucumber.

She hasn't spotted the blow pipe.

Hey, girl, hey, Emen.

HE BLOWS

The sedative makes her sleepy
in minutes.

Good girl. Come on now.
It's OK, sweetheart.

Oh... But she still manages
an iron grip with her left foot.

Oh, come on, give, give, give, give.
That's a good girl.

Little Embong desperately clings
on to his mum, where he feels safe.

Leonora is next.

DESPERATE SQUEAKING

Her baby, Lamar, has become
separated. He's too young to dart.

Yeah, it's OK, it's OK. Yeah.
We had to catch him.

He was trying to get away
from his mother.

We were trying to carry the mother
and he was...

HE SQUEAKS

Sh!
SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE

It's more safe there with Emen, yeah?

SHRILL SQUEAKING

They're totally mother-oriented
and they're very afraid of us.

Catching a baby that's so...
They bite very hard, believe me.

This strange experience will be
the first of many

as they head to their new life.

The other adults chosen
for the project are all sedated.

Yeah, he's dropping now. Yeah.

Those darted in the tree tops are
safely caught in nets.

There are three females
with infants.

And three males.

The orangutans are taken back
to the centre,

where they'll undergo
a thorough health check.

Whilst the orangutans spend
two months in quarantine

to make sure they carry no disease
into the wild,

preparations continue elsewhere.

In the remote centre of Borneo,
a base camp has been built.

A carefully selected team
of scientists, vets and trackers
have been chosen

to monitor the orangutans
after their release.

Nothing is being left to chance.

The team will track the orangutans
with radio transmitters.

They'll follow each individual

to see how they're coping
with their new life.

Good or bad, there will be
no escaping the results.

I'm a realist enough to know

that even though I have faith
in the orangutans

and their intelligence
and their adaptability,

things can go wrong.

We can prove now
whether this is working or not.

We really can prove it,
we will have to prove it,

that it is worth the money and
the effort to save these individuals

and put them back in the wild again.

Eight long weeks of quarantine
are finally over.

Last minute preparations
for the next stage
of the release are underway.

Leonora, Emen and the other orphans
have been given

a clean bill of health

and had radio transmitters implanted
under their skin.

They're all set.

No road trip would be complete
without some snacks.

They have their favourites,
sweet corn for Emen.

And for Leonora, bananas.

The girls have never been
to the city before.

CAR HORNS BLARE

SIREN WAILS

They're heading north
into deepest, darkest Borneo.

Over the last 20 years,
Indonesian Borneo has lost

vast areas of its ancient,
pristine rainforest

to logging
and palm oil plantations.

For Lone it's made finding
a safe protected area of forest

all the more difficult.

It doesn't matter how far
I have to move them.

We took their forests away.

We took their home
and killed their mothers

and I think that they deserve
to go back to the forest.

No matter how much money and
how much effort it's going to take,

we owe it to them.

Since leaving home, the orangutans
have endured travelling

by boat, by truck and by plane.

To reach their new home they must
take to the skies once more.

This time,
suspended underneath a helicopter.

HUMAN VOICES

HELICOPTER ENGINE STARTS UP

ENGINE NOISE GETS LOUDER

Leonora and her friends seem to be
taking it all in their stride.

Below them is the forest canopy

that their kind have climbed through
for millennia.

Now they swing above it
in a most unlikely fashion,

carrying the hope
of a new and better future.

For Lone and her team
it's an anxious time.

HELICOPTER APPROACHING
He's coming from over there,
I can hear it.

It's far out
but he's coming from over there.

This is the culmination
of a lifetime's work.

At last, back on terra firma.

The release team spring
into action.

Lone's first priority is
to check on Leonora and Emen.

Emen!

Emen!

Leonora!

Sweetie! Hey, sweetie.

The operation to put these orphaned
orangutans back to where they belong

has been a huge effort
from the whole team.

Emotions are running high.

I can't even describe it in words
how I feel about it

because it is extremely overwhelming
for me.

I really feel like a proud mother
having to release them,

to actually know
that they are now finally going.

For Emen the waiting is over.

Hey, Emen, darling.

It's your turn, sweetie.

In her lifetime she's survived
the trauma of losing her mother

and most of her right hand.

Now she faces her greatest challenge
yet - life in the wild.

Hello, Emen.

That's it.

THEY LAUGH

Can we do another one?
Let's get to the next one.

Come on, now. Get them out.

One by one, the released orphans
instinctively head for the treetops.

The largest male,
an unruly teenager called Menteng,

seems the most uncertain.

He's followed
by two mums and their babies.

Leonora has been sitting quietly.

After four years
at the rescue centre

and eight years waiting
on an island sanctuary,

she's about to see her new home.

Ah!

Leonora is entering
a world of uncertainty,

a world full of challenges,

a world away
from what she's used to.

Oh, I've got total faith in them.
Ah!

I've got faith in them more
than anybody else, I think, actually.

Lone and the team have done
all they can.

Now it's up to them.

ANIMAL CALLS ECHOING

Somewhere out there are
eight orphaned orangutans.

At camp, Lone and seven
monitoring teams are heading out

for a long day in the forest.

Lone's keen to check up
on Leonora and Emen.

The first major test will be
finding their own food

and Lone is anxious to see
if they're up to the challenge.

She heads to the release site
but there's no sign.

They go deeper
with the radio tracking equipment.

Even with the transmitters,
the orangutans are proving
tricky to find.

SHE SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE

STATIC NOISE

After half an hour of searching,

they pick up best friends
Leonora and Emen in the same area.

BRANCHES BREAKING

Just heard something.
BIRDS SCREECHING

It was just above us.

Something moving up there.

Yeah, that is Leonora.

Oh. I'd be a bit careful. She might
decide to chuck some of it at us.

And little Lamar is hanging
in a vine,

going, like, "Oh, go away."

It's always the babies that get most
upset. It's the same on the island.

Below Leonora's tree, there's the
evidence Lone has been hoping for.

Almost looks like a big apple
or something. Look at that.

I think that's wild mango.

Almost smells more like a...

Oh, it's... God, it's sour.

They suddenly have to change
from eating aubergines

and bananas and cucumbers and stuff

and eating these really, really sour

and very often very bitter
forest fruits,

so it must be quite a change
for them.

But they seem to enjoy it

and I think that's, again,
that's their natural food

and there must be something
that makes them just go, like,

"Oh, that's quite all right."

She's paying me
absolutely no attention.

This is where life changes.

Food becomes more important
than attention, you know,

from somebody they know.

She knows that she needs to be able
to find food and get food first.

Leonora is making a promising start

but she faces the constant challenge
of deciding

which plants and fruits are safe
to eat.

Wild orangutan infants spend up
to eight years with their mothers,

learning these invaluable lessons.

Leonora has to rely on her instincts
to guide her.

All Lone can do is watch and hope.

BABY SQUEAKING

Oh, I can hear Emen's baby
getting upset.

It's probably because
the mother is moving
and he wasn't right next to her.

Yeah, they're all...
They're way up in the top up there.

Just as they did on their island,

Emen and Leonora are hanging out
together.

Emen's also found some wild fruit.

It's not as juicy
as her favourite sweet corn

but it's nutritious
and she's getting a taste for it.

Little Embong is also starting
to test out the new menu.

Leonora and Emen may still have
each other for company

but the constant search for food may
eventually test their friendship.

Elsewhere in the forest,

the progress of the other orangutans
is being closely followed,

led by orangutan scientist
Simon Husson.

And one or two of them nested
up in that tree up there,

so we can see their nest,
which is fantastic.

Someone spent the night here.

MAN: Oh, look!
Oh, Menteng! OK.

It's Menteng,
one of the adolescent males.

SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE

They weren't expecting to meet him
on the forest floor.

He could do them serious damage.

Menteng has found us, come to the
ground and now he's following us.

And he's a big guy.

I think with Menteng is he just...
He's used to getting food from us.

He's just coming up to us
to get food.

We're just going to keep
walking away from him.

Simon decides to stand his ground,
in the hope he'll back off.

He's starting to turn into
a fully adult male.

Big cheek pads.

Hey, Menteng.

SIMON CALLS OUT ANXIOUSLY

There's nothing for it but to head
for the safety of the river.

SIMON SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE

I'm used to following wild ones in
the forest who stay up in the trees

and this is a different situation
altogether.

There's a lot of hormones.
There's a lot of testosterone.

You can see he is maturing.

Unlike Leonora and Emen,
Menteng is struggling

without his regular food deliveries.

Too many years on his island
sanctuary have allowed him

to grow into a rather lazy teenager.

So far no one has seen him eat
any forest fruit

and rather worryingly,
he seems to think the pebble beach
is made of coconuts!

The team is desperate
for all eight orphans to pass

the first test
of feeding themselves.

He's oblivious
that 600 other rescued orangutans
are relying on him

for their freedom.

Over the next week, the monitoring
teams are seeing positive signs

from most of the orphans.

They're staying high up
in the trees.

They've seen them feeding on dozens
of different plants and fruits.

And in the evening they're making
fresh nests for sleeping.

Day by day, the team is becoming
more impressed

with one in particular.

Leonora may have been the tamest

but she's undergoing
the biggest transformation.

She's reached a major milestone.

Like a truly wild orangutan,

the constant search for food
is making her and her son
more solitary.

Emen has been following them around

but there's not enough fruit
to share

and their relationship is changing.

LEONORA SQUEAKS AND GRUNTS

Leonora's kiss squeaks tell Emen
she no longer wants her around.

Emen has no choice
but to find her own patch.

It may be sad
to see the friends part

but it's also a sign
that things are going well,

as the orangutans continue to behave
more and more naturally.

Two days later,
there's a worrying development.

One of the orangutans is giving
serious cause for concern.

SHE SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE

It hasn't moved for 24 hours.

When they've done so well
the first week

and then they suddenly do not move
for a day, you get a bit worried.

It's Emen.

She looks not too happy.

I wonder if she might have
a bit of a bad stomach

because she didn't move yesterday
at all

and her stomach is a bit flat today.

Their stomachs need to get used
to this kind of new diet and stuff

but there are also things in
the forest can be slightly poisonous.

Right now for them it's just, you
know, try it and see what happens.

If it doesn't taste good
you spit it out

but even something that tastes
nice could probably potentially
be slightly poisonous.

We'll just have to follow her
a little bit today

and make sure
she gets something to eat.

Emen's three-year-old baby, Embong,
is still dependent
on his mum's milk.

She needs to consume
around 2,000 calories per day.

The fruit she needs is in
the treetops

but Emen does
what a wild orangutan mother
would almost never do.

She comes to the ground.

Borneo's forests are home
to many dangers -

clouded leopards, wild pigs
and deadly snakes.

Lone doesn't want to intervene

but she watches
to make sure they're safe.

I think she's a bit weak today.

She conserves energy
by walking on the ground
rather than going through the trees

but, again, there's
also not much fruit down here.

She's going to lie down, yeah.

Sleeping on the ground is a worrying
sign. Lone will stay with them.

After two hours,
her concern is growing.

What we need to worry about is
more him, actually, than Emen.

Emen could easily go for a long time
without food, probably,

whereas Embong, he will get weaker
faster if he doesn't get enough food.

We will only give food if the animal
seems to be in proper distress,

meaning that they're
really, really weak,

we have not seen them eating
for, maybe three or four days.

If the animal gets really sick,
if there's anything else wrong,

we might take them back.

But it will only be
in those situations

when we really, really feel
that we need to go in and help.

Menteng, the large adolescent male,
is still spending

too much time on the ground,
where there's little to eat.

And he's still sticking to his
unhealthy habit of sucking stones.

Simon is desperate to see him eat
a wild meal.

Despite the odds, Menteng has found
something edible on the beach.

BUZZING

But he hasn't chosen
the cleverest of lunches.

He just got hold of a wasps' nest...
HE LAUGHS

..which then started stinging him!

He is trying to get his own food.

Unfortunately, the food
he's trying to get is biting back.

And you can see him now,

just knocking the wasps off his head
as he's being stung, bless him.

SIMON SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Menteng still has a lot to learn

but at least he's heading
in the right direction.

THUNDER RUMBLES

A change in the weather is
a new challenge for the orangutans.

Despite the deluge,
Leonora is still feeding.

She's found some tree ants

and has worked out a neat way
of catching them.

She lets them get entangled in her
hairs and then she picks them off.

This could turn out to be one
of Lamar's most valuable lessons.

When fruit is scarce,
they will need to rely

on these lower-grade food sources.

Leonora is learning and adapting
quickly to her new life

but the same cannot be said
for her old friend Emen.

Marios the vet has been called in.

Emen has spent the last two days
up the same tree.

Her transmitter is still sending
a signal but there's no sign of her.

They wait for an hour.

There's no movement.

WOMAN: What are you thinking,
Marios?

I don't know, I'm a little bit sad.

Are you really worried about her?

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

Lone has lost orangutans before
and is well aware of the dangers.

We had some orangutans
that got rather sick on the island.

It was a very, very nasty
bacterial infection

that gets into your blood.

Then I got sick
and it turned out in the end,
it was exactly the same thing.

The doctor, he probably managed
to save my life a couple of times.

Out of the five of us,
three of the orangutans died.

Unfortunately, it was some
very, very close orangutans

that I'd known from very little
and that I really cared for.

You know, you almost lie there
and wish, "Can't it just be me
instead of one of them?"

The whole team is briefed
and a plan of action discussed.

Embong's not eating. He's not
nursing for whatever reason,

whether she's not producing milk
or he's just feeling sick himself.

And obviously,
much more fragile than an adult.

When you get an orang that's ill,
it does make you think,

it makes you think about the future,
think about what might happen.

A rescue mission will be put
in motion.

BUBBLING BIRD CALLS

ALL SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE

When you haven't seen them move
for a few days, you start worrying

and then the fear kicks in,
the fear of not being able to help

if it is so bad
that we can't medically help her

or she might already be dead.

They hope to tempt her out
with a rescue package.

Rehydration salts and milk formula
are added to water.

The tree is too dangerous to climb,
so they'll hoist it up on a line.

Yeah.

Emen and Embong are
nowhere to be seen.

LEAVES RUSTLING
Then, at last...

There she goes. Here she comes.

Emen goes straight for the bananas!

Then she discovers
the bottle of water.

Hope Embong will come out
and get some.

He's normally quite forward.
Oh, here he's coming,
here he's coming.

Here he comes.

After not eating for several days,
they devour the whole package.

It was very much a sense of relief

because by her starting to eat,
Embong was also going to get
some food

and she did share

and I was actually more concerned
that she got fluids.

Fluid balance is
so much more important than the food

and she did drink.

Obviously, she was hungry

and I think she just
didn't dare to eat any wild fruits

because she didn't know what it was
that had actually made her sick.

Wow.

For the next few days, they'll need
to follow Emen's every move,

to make sure she and little Embong
are getting enough to eat.

The transition into life in the wild
was always going to be a challenge

but one orangutan has far surpassed
their expectations -

Leonora.

I think I'm as proud
as any mother would be

who's just sent their kids out,

not just to university
but it's actually graduated
from university as well

and then go out in the big world
and succeed.

That's what they're doing.
They're succeeding right now.

I think we all know
when we have found that place

that we really want to live

and I think that, you know,
they feel the same way.

This is their home where they're
going to have to put down roots

and they're going to have
their babies.

I'm sure that they must feel that,
as well.

The orangutans are making the forest
their home.

They're finding their own food,
learning to live alone

and establishing
their own territories.

Best of all,
after giving everyone a scare,

there's good news
for Emen and Embong.

They're well
and are thriving on their own.

Even Menteng has moved away
from the river banks

and is getting used
to his new life up in the trees.

Leonora and her friends are
living proof

that orangutans brought up by humans
can indeed survive in the wild.

It's the news Lone has been
longing for.

It means there is a future
for orphaned and rescued orangutans.

And now these eight orangutans have
actually succeeded,

it means freedom for all those
orangutans that's been sitting there,

waiting in the cages
for so many years,

waiting for their chance
to get out in the forest.

Now I've got to get the next 600 out.

And I'm sure that the next 600
are going to do
just as well as these guys.

Any animal you can give freedom,
it touches you

in some places
you don't even really know exists.

You know, it's just something
so deep inside of you.

Lone hopes that very soon
Leonora will be joined

by many more orangutans

and that they will found
a brand new wild population

which will thrive here
for generations to come.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd