Dr Ian Singleton is now the Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) – but his long journey in conservation started out at a summer school at Durrell in 1987.
He rose to become the head of Durrell’s ape section, but left the Island to work more in Indonesia protecting orangutans.
And now he’s coming back for a free event at Durrell at 6pm tonight to talk about his experiences, which Durrell say will be in equal parts tragic, ironic and inspiring.
They say: “Ian spent months at a time living in Indonesian swamps, post Durrell, whilst earning his PhD and studying the devastating effect of palm oil on orangutans (and other wildlife).
“He would later found SOCP, an organisation which is responsible for rescuing ‘refugee’ orangutans, fighting for the protection of crucial habitat in various courts and raising awareness of the global issues that face all of humanity if Indonesia’s forests are allowed to be completely destroyed.”
The event tonight at Durrell is free, and members and supporters are all invited.