This week is National Wildlife Week, and to spotlight the urgent action required to secure a better future for orangutans, Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) UK has partnered with creative agency and 1% for the Planet member, Truant.

In the last 75 years, humans have wiped out 80% of orangutans on the planet. Through hunting, illegal trade and deforestation, humans have contributed to the deaths of approximately 225,000 orangutans.

With all three species of orangutan now critically endangered, BOS and Truant are shining a light on this ‘mammoth issue’ in a nationwide campaign designed to educate the British public about the urgent action needed. The campaign aims to increase awareness as well as drum up the financial support needed to secure a future for the species. 

A creative campaign aims to bring to life the scale of the issue using the term ‘mammoth’. The word is both a descriptor for the size of the problem and serves as a warning about the extinction of species.

For over 34 years, BOS has been working to provide sanctuaries for orangutans rescued from dangerous situations like illegal trade, or death of their families. The organisation manages over 1.1 million acres of Bornean rainforest - a land area that one million football pitches laid flat side by side would only just scrape half the surface of.

Across out of home, print media and digital platforms, the campaign is made up of a striking creative image of an orangutan with mammoth tusks. Bold copy reads ‘Orangutans are facing a mammoth problem’. 

The simple yet striking campaign pulls audience attention, facing them directly with the issue and its scale. The campaign acts as a warning that we must not play a part in losing another historic species.

BOS Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit and non-governmental organisation dedicated to the conservation of the critically endangered Bornean orangutan. BOS UK, the Foundation’s UK arm, is working to change the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality and underline that the protection of the species is a collective human issue.

The campaign will run across over 100 billboards from 2nd April. Truant London worked with JCDecaux, Ocean Outdoor and Build Hollywood for the outdoor executions.