Could International Animal Rescue (IAR) be any more amazing? This organization – which has saved the lives of countless animals threatened by deforestation, the palm oil industry, illegal wildlife trafficking, and the exotic pet trade – has just done it again.

The group has just released a video to its Facebook page, detailing the rescue of a 20-year-old male orangutan named Mata, who was found on a banana plantation, desperately searching for food. He was displaced from his home by recent forest fires in Indonesia, which tragically destroyed five million acres of forest. IAR said, “If we had not rescued Mata, he would have been left to starve and die, or would have been shot by a farmer.”

The glimpse we receive of Mata’s sad, isolated life at the start of the video is a tragic sight to behold. Gail Campbell-Smith, IAR Indonesia’s Program Manager, put it best by saying, “The saddest image you can think of is a magnificent orangutan that should be traveling in the top of the canopy, but instead has to drag itself on the ground, struggling even to find a standing tree suitable to make a nest.”

Luckily, Mata is now being cared for by IAR staff members, awaiting release back to the wild. To find out more about the work of IAR, visit their website or Facebook page.

To learn about how you can eliminate palm oil from your life, check out the posts below:

• Why You Should Avoid Palm Oil, and How to Do It
• Put Down the Palm Oil: Planet-Friendly Alternatives For Your Home
• How to Wean Yourself Off Palm Oil