Mark Leong's Image

Orangutans confiscated from circuses, sideshows and private owners in Kalimantan, Indonesia, are taken in by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.

The orphans go to 'forest school' - the rainforest - where they can practise skills such as climbing and learn which plants are edible. Mark included the shot to show that not all interaction with Asian animals is consumptive. 'The hardest part of this shoot,' says Mark, 'was resisting the urge to play with the little ones, because they are so social, curious and adorable.' It was important that he didn't, though, because there's one more crucial skill these orphans must learn if they are ever to be released back into the forest: to be wary of humans. But, of course, they can only ever be released if there is forest rather than oil-palm plantations for them to live in.