Brave conservationists save orangutan from white water rapids

This is the heroic moment conservationists braved white water rapids to save an orangutan from drowning in a raging torrent.
The orangutan was spotted struggling to hold on to rocks in the middle of rapids in the Lesan River in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province.
It is not known whether the endangered ape was trying to cross the river in search of food or a mate, or whether it had simply fallen out of a tree.
But it would surely have drowned had conservationists from the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) not spotted the struggling primate and launched a rescue operation.
First, they hacked off tree branches to try to pull the orangutan to dry land but it could not reach the branch.
They then attached branches together to create a bridge across the rapids for the agile ape to crawl along.
One man braved the torrent by standing in the raging river to help secure the temporary bridge and to give the animal a nudge in the right direction.
Finally the orangutan made it across the branches to dry land, immediately heading for the safety of the trees.
A video of the rescue operation filmed by conservationists is melting the hearts of animal lovers after being posted on social media.
Ken Hardi, the founder of COP, said: 'This was about life or death. Orangutans do like water, but they do not swim.
'We found this poor orangutan trapped in swift water by accident when we were doing a survey. If we had been any later, the orangutan may have been dead.'
East Kalimantan, which comprises the eastern portion of Borneo, was once covered by tropical rainforest.
But illegal logging has removed much of the original forests, destroying the natural habitat of the region's famous orangutans which are now critically endangered.