In our new Saturday matinees series, Adventurers in Exploration, kids can learn more about our amazing planet through live stories from National Geographic Explorers, interactive activities and engaging films that highlight our work in science, technology, conservation and exploration.

Watch the thrilling film Mission Critical: Orangutans, play Kahoot!, and meet daring and innovative National Geographic Explorers Topher White and Juliana Machado Ferreira, who are using cell phones to stop illegal activity in the rain forest and working to save the world one stolen bird at a time.

About the film:

Their name translates as person of the forest. They are among our closest cousins. They look and act in ways we find instantly familiar. But orangutans remain a mystery, living in solitude high in the forest canopies of Borneo and Sumatra. And now, as deforestation and poaching threaten the very existence of orangutans, we’re racing to understand their life in the wild. National Geographic photographer Tim Laman is on a mission to tell the story of Borneo orangutans before it’s too late. Trekking to remote locations and scaling massive trees, he’s documenting behaviors we’ve never seen—and showing how different groups of orangutans develop unique ways to use the resources around them. But Tim’s work to understand a species becomes a personal quest to discover the fate of a single orangutan. Walimah is a young female whose life has been chronicled by Tim’s camera. In the past year she has come of age, mated for the first time, and given birth to her first baby. But as Tim returns to Borneo for a new round of photography, troubling rumors swirl about Walimah: She’s rarely seen… she may be gravely injured… her baby can’t be found…. As Tim pieces together what happened, will Walimah survive a life-changing tragedy?

Tickets are $15 for adults and children (7-12 years) are $10.

For tickets: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/dc/events/adventures-exploration/