Buenos Aires zoo biologist: freeing orangutan nearly impossible A trial is underway in Buenos Aires to decide whether 29-year old orangutan Sandra, who lived all her life in a zoo, will be able to adapt to a natural reserve in Brazil where she is supposed to be transferred after a court ruling recognized her as “non-human individual” with basic rights. Adrian Sestelo, head of biology at the Buenos Aires zoo, says that “setting her free would be nearly impossible” because Sandra wouldn’t know how to find food or shelter in a free environment. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES.