• Happi would cry continuously as he looked for comfort at a rehabilitation centre in Borneo.
  
• Cupcake has never swung from one tree to another in rainforests. His mother, Sam, was rescued under appalling conditions from a zoo in Malaysia. Both now live in a rehabilitation centre in Jambi, Sumatra.
  

When these rescued orangutans finally start a new life in their natural habitat, they will have a Calcutta duo to thank.

Entrepreneurs Sreela Pillai Roy and Sreya Sen are committed to helping send five rescued orangutans they have adopted to the forests of Sumatra and Borneo.

The duo want to educate people about the need to stop using products that contain palm oil and help check deforestation.

Rampant use of palm oil in the beauty and wellness industry has rendered thousands of orangutans homeless. A campaign against the use of palm oil has been gathering momentum worldwide.

An online campaign to air Iceland’s Christmas advert on the issue garnered 670K signatures recently. France, too, has announced plans to curb import of palm oil. Closer home, Sreela and Sreya, both in their 40s, have left high-paying corporate jobs to take up the cause.

Sreela launched a range of palm oil-free organic cosmetics, Urvija, in September 2016. The Urvija salon, opened in March in Salt Lake, goes a step forward by educate client about the impact of excessive use of palm oil.

Happi The Telegraph file picture

“As customers come in for hair therapy or facial, my staff educate them about the environment. They are told about the orangutan project. Some customers also offer to help take our mission forward,” Sreya said.

The proceeds from the business go towards adoption and upkeep of the orangutans.

“We are here to tell people about how orangutans are losing their homes and suffering abuse. Palm oil is cheap and easily available, thus a favourite of most cosmetic brands. This has led to trees being cut down recklessly,” said Sreela, a banker-turned-entrepreneur.

Sreela and her husband Baibhab have always been avid animal and environment lovers. “We have adopted dancing deer and fishing cat at Alipore zoo and snow leopards and red panda at Darjeeling zoo,” she said.

Surfing the Internet led Sreela to Leif Cocks’ The Orangutan Project. “I got in touch with him and offered to help,” Sreela said.

The raw materials for Urvija products are often sourced from Sreela’s family-owned nursery in Arambagh. “We have a team working under a bio-chemist in Arambagh, making products from natural conflict-free ingredients. So far Urvija has 26 products that use mahua, sesame or olive oil instead of palm oil,” she said. None of the products is tested on animals.

Both plan to adopt more orangutans in future. “We are waiting to hear about the progress of Cupcake and the rest. We hope to meet them next year,” Sreela said.