Imagine if your home was destroyed by a terrifying fire and you were forced to flee the area you felt most safe.
Now imagine you tried to find safety in nearby village, only to be abused and taunted, fearing for the life of your child.
Orangutans- who have 97% of the same DNA make up as humans- have been experiencing this exact nightmare and left suffering as a result. Thousands of orang-utans in Indonesia are now dying as a result of forest fires destroying their natural habitat.
News emerged this morning that a female Orangutan and her young baby were thankfully saved by charity workers, but sadly this is a symptom of a huge ecological problem that could affect the lives of animals all over the planet.
International Animal Rescue wrote in a post online: "They were forced out of their forest home as a result of the fires and ended up in a village. The villagers were frightened and threw things at the terrified mother before attempting to capture and tie her up.
"Fortunately our team got to her just in time.
"They quickly anaesthetised the mother with her frightened baby clinging on tightly.
“They have now been translocated and released into a safe area of protected rainforest and are being monitored by a conservation team to ensure that they are recovering well from their terrible ordeal."
The crisis has been described as one of the ‘worst’ that the world has seen.
Karmele Llano from IAR Indonesia revealed: "This is a global environmental crisis and it is already considered by experts as the worst man-made ecological disaster of the century which will affect the lives of people the world over. I fear that in terms of the orangutans, the worst is yet to come."
Forest fires have been increasing as global warming causes temperatures to rise. Deforestation is also destroying natural habitat as trees are cut down to make way for human agriculture and logging.
Find out how you can help at www.internationalanimalrescue.org