In 1998 Hodges joined his partner Currey in Indonesia, where he was working to protect orang-utans and stop illegal logging. They travelled through Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo which was (at the time) being heavily illegally logged, met with primatologist Birute Galdikas who has worked with orang-utans for decades, and interacted with rehabilitated orang-utans. During this trip footage for the documentary "Drawn to Wildlife" was shot by Currey of Hodges in the field. Hodges states this trip had "an incredibly powerful effect" on him and it resulted in a new drawing Plea for the Rainforest (1999) – an evocative portrait of a baby orang-utan peering over its mother's head who is pleading to the viewer.Gary Hodges Wildlife Art official website, page "Plea for the Rainforest" http://www.garyhodges-wildlife-art.com/plea_rainforest_35.html Time lapse photography of this drawing was shown on National Geographic TV in "Wild Vision" in 1999."Artist draws on his passion for animals" Gazette & Herald newspaper, 4 November 1999
