Charanya had a baby and was desperately searching for food.<\/p>\n
Kalaya was semi-conscious and lactating, leading the team to think she\u2019d just had a baby which had either died or had been taken as a pet.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Boon-Mee was surviving on bark.<\/p>\n
IAR official Lis Key said: \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking to see the appalling state of these animals as their habitat is razed for the palm oil industry \u2013 they were weak from hunger. It\u2019s a small comfort that this time rather than chase them off or kill them, the \u00adcompany did the right thing and \u00adcontacted us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boon-Mee was the trickiest of the primates to catch because she was too weak to climb down from the tree.<\/p>\n
In the end, rescuers shot her with a tranquilliser and caught her in a net.<\/p>\n
The three adults and one infant were taken to a refuge, where Boon-Mee successfully had her baby.<\/p>\n
All the apes were nursed back to health and later released into the wild deep in another part of the forest. Lis said: \u201cDespite the condition they were in, they really are the lucky ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe worst thing is there are hundreds of orang-utans who won\u2019t be so lucky because of the awful conditions they are forced to try to survive in.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts fear there are only 40,000 orang-utans left in the wild \u2013 a shocking 20,000 fewer than a decade ago.<\/p>\n And IAR warn deforestation for palm oil is the No1 cause.<\/p>\n The oil is used in up to half of all processed foods, is increasingly used as bio-fuel and is a key ingredient in items like shampoo and cosmetics.<\/p>\n Lis said: \u201cThere are plenty of alternatives to it but none is as cheap\u201d.<\/p>\n And shoppers often don\u2019t realise how widely it\u2019s used because it can legally be \u00adtagged \u201cvegetable oil\u201d on product labels.<\/p>\n But the EU plan to introduce new labelling rules next year.<\/p>\n<\/a>