DiCaprio, fellow actors visit orangutans in Aceh national park
Jakarta - Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio and other Hollywood actors made a brief visit to an orangutan conservation centre in Indonesia's Aceh province over the weekend, an official said Tuesday.
DiCaprio, accompanied by fellow actors Adrien Brody and Fisher Stevens, met three orangutans and spent two hours watching them play at the Gunung Leuser National Park during the trip on Sunday, said Kuswandono, the park's conservation director.
"Leonardo and his team wanted to see the actual habitat of orangutans and biodiversity in Aceh," Kuswandono said.
Photos published on the park's website show DiCaprio getting off a helicopter and being welcomed by Acehnese children.
"Together we can save the Leuser ecosystem. The last place on earth where elephants, tigers, rhinos and orangutans coexist in one of Asia's last great rainforests," Brody said in a message posted online alongside an apparent selfie with an elephant.
DiCaprio, who won the 2016 Academy Awards for best actor for his lead role in The Revenant, has for years campaigned on environmental issues.
He used his Oscar acceptance speech to urge the international community to reject the "politics of greed" and take action against climate change.
There are between 45,000 to 65,000 orangutans living in about 86,000 suitable areas in Indonesia, according to recent estimates.
There are fears that those numbers could have fallen due to rapid forest destruction caused by logging and burning.
- DPA
RELATED