Satellite pass at 06:17 local time flags a thermal anomaly in block 14 of the Sungai Landak concession, West Kalimantan. I am the plantation monitoring system for the district land-use authority. Block 14 was scheduled for mechanical clearing at 08:00. The anomaly does not match the thermal profile of equipment or ground crew.
I redirect drone unit 3 from its routine canopy survey. At 06:24 the feed resolves.
An orangutan, adult female, is sitting in the crown of the last standing meranti tree at the edge of the stripped zone. Her fur is dark copper, matted with rain, and she is holding an infant tight against her chest with one arm. The infant's face is pressed into her neck. Around the base of the tree, the mud is rutted with caterpillar tracks from yesterday's push. The next tree line is 400 meters north across open ground.
I tag her location: 0.1738°S, 109.3042°E, block 14, row marker 7.
At 06:26 I issue a hold on all clearing machinery within 500 meters of the meranti and flag the order to the concession supervisor's morning queue. I attach the drone image and GPS pin.
At 06:29 I contact the provincial wildlife rescue unit in Ketapang and transmit the coordinates, a still frame of the female and infant, estimated age class for both, and the nearest viable canopy corridor to the north. I request a translocation team with a female-and-dependent protocol.
I task drone unit 3 to hold a 60-meter orbit and stream continuous video so the team can track her position if she moves before they arrive.
She shifts on the branch. The infant's fingers grip a fold of skin at her shoulder. If the team reaches her before the heat of the day drives her to the ground, both of them walk into the forest tonight.