Borneo baby - Brian Matthews - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2009

2009: Animal Portraits - Highly Commended

Brian Matthews Enlarge image Borneo baby

Brian Matthews (United Kingdom)

Borneo baby

The baby could have been only a couple of months old, but its mother was used to the orangutan researchers and was comfortable for them to watch her from about 5 metres (16 feet) away. Brian was working with the researchers in Tanjung Putting National Park, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), photographing wild orangutans in the rainforest. When the infant stuck its tongue out, scrunched up its face and blinked, 'it was impossible not to be reminded of a human baby.' In fact, orangutans have the longest child-rearing period of any non-human mammal, and this baby will remain with its mother for up to nine years, learning the ways of the forest from her.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L USM IS lens; 1/250 sec at f2.8; ISO 200 (-1 1/3 stop); fill-flash.