Adorable Photo Shows Orangutan Lending a Hand to Man Wading in Snake-Infested Waters

(Illustration - 2checkingout/Shutterstock)

While on a safari with a group of friends, photographer Anil Prabhakar witnessed the incredible gesture of good will from a member of the animal kingdom. A concerned orangutan from the island of Borneo reached out a helping hand to a man it saw wading through snake-infested waters. The extraordinary photos taken of the encounter attracted major media attention.

Prabhakar and his friends were at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) when a warden came over to help them clear the water of snakes that had been reported in the area.

“There was a report of snakes in that area so the warden came over and he’s clearing snakes,” Prabhakar told CNN. “I saw an orangutan come very close to him and just offer him his hand.”

The orangutan stayed up on the banks, but his gesture seemed clear; he wanted to make sure that no one was left in the water whether they seemed to be family or simply a human friend.

Amazed by what he was witnessing, Prabhakar took out his camera and managed to snap the now-viral image just as the primate was reaching out a helping hand as if to say “May I help you?” in the face of what the orangutan might have believed to be imminent danger for the warden.

The image was posted on Instagram with the caption “Let me help you?: Once Humanity dying in Mankind, sometime animals are guiding us back to our basics.” It almost immediately racked up tens of thousands of likes and dozens of comments from people who fell in love with the innocent scene.

“This is so adorable ... Animals deserve all the love and respect,” one commenter wrote.

“Thank you ... extraordinary picture,” said another.

The image is particularly touching given the history that orangutans have with snakes, which remain one of the major threats to their survival in the wild. Venomous snakes native to the same areas as orangutans serve as natural predators for the primates, which are at serious risk of survival due to a number of factors.

In addition to the dangers posed by snakes and other predators, they face massive habitat destruction, both at the hands of humans and due to forest fires and hunting. To exacerbate things, female orangutans only reproduce roughly once every six to eight years, according to information posted by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation online.

A view of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation's quarantine area for orangutans in Nyaru Menteng, Central Kalimantan. (BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)

Prabhakar, who is a geologist in his native country of India, told CNN that snakes are “their biggest enemy” out in the wild—which made the orangutan reaching out to help the warden from a seemingly threatening area understandable.

The entire moment only lasted a few minutes, though, as the warden moved away from the orangutan before long.

“He said, ’they’re completely wild, we don’t know how they'll react,’” Prabhakar said.

Even though the encounter was brief, though, Prabhakar explained that he was incredibly thrilled that he'd gotten to spot something so special during his trip.

“I’m so happy that moment happened to me,” he said.

An orangutan holding a worker's hand as it plays outside its cage at the rehabilitation center operated by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation on the outskirts of Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan. (BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)