Terry Pratchett: Facing Extinction

Best-selling author Sir Terry Pratchett, diagnosed with Alzheimer's five years ago, has one last adventure he wants to go on. Eighteen years ago Terry had a life-changing experience in the jungles of Borneo, where he encountered orangutans in the wild for the first time. Now he's going back to find out what the future holds for these endangered species, and discover a new threat to their habitat that could push them to the brink of extinction. His Alzheimer's will make the trip an incredible challenge both physically and mentally, as he contemplates the role of mankind in the eradication of the planet's species, and considers his own inevitable extinction. Terry is accompanied by his friend and assistant Rob Wilkins, who was with Terry when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007, and who has had to come to terms with caring for Terry in recent years. The pair investigates an Indonesian street market where endangered species are reportedly on sale, meet the world expert on orangutans, Dr Birute Galdikas, and journey into the rainforest in search of Kusasi, the king of the orangutans, with whom Terry had a chance encounter 18 years ago, but has, in recent years, disappeared. Along the way they also share a drink with an indigenous tribe whose shaman thinks he can cure Terry's disease, attempt to save an orangutan trapped in a patch of soon-to-be destroyed forest with Orangutan Foundation Director Ashley Leiman, and fly above the rainforest to see for themselves the devastating effect a new threat to the orangutans' habitat has had on the landscape.