INDONESIA

Jeff just got back from filming in Indonesia, where he told a story surrounding the Orangutan, found today only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

Here is some commentary about the shoot from Jeff's producer Kevin Meagher.

"Like most wild animals their story is the same ... pet trade, loss of habitat via illegal logging, and an unsympathetic local public are pushing them to the brink.

If you see a baby orangutan in captivity, it usually means its mother was killed. We saw many. And depending on the baby's age that's how long ago the mother was killed. Jeff held newborns with IV's in their arms!

As you can see by the photos, Jeff did a terrific job as usual. He tells a story starting with a raid he helps conduct in Jakarta to take away illegal Orangutan pets, then following them first to a temporary facility in Java to a facility on Borneo where the animals are trained to be "wild" again so they can hopefully be re-released.

Jeff winds up on the other side of Borneo with the famed Birute Gladikas, a contemporary and colleague of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey (all of whom trained under Dr. Leakey at same time), where he walks into the jungle with the animals, shows his audience what it's like to be a wild Orangutan (literally) and finally takes a former captive up a long rain forest river trip and releases it into the wild.

It should make a terrific episode. Oh and as usual lots of snakes for Mr. Corwin! Now not to say it was easy shooting in a place like Indonesia ... especially right now ... but well worth the effort."