HOPE FOR THE RED APE?

摘要

TERRY PRATCHETT'S EYES widened. The author of the Discworld fantasy novels was crouching beside a wooden walkway, in a peat-swamp forest in Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo). He had become concerned by the plight of the red ape when he created Discworld's orangutan librarian, and had joined me to meet a real one. Ambling towards us, planks creaking under his weight, was Kusasi - a huge male Bornean orangutan. This was Terry's first encounter with a big, cheek-padded male. He had already met- or, to be more precise, been accosted by - a playful orphaned infant "with a face like a surprised coconut". The adorable youngster had tried to pinch his trademark black hat, but Kusasi was in a totally different league.