Twenty-three-year-old Phebe Gelfling is a young woman on a mission.
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The Port Macquarie local is heading off to the Indonesian island of Sumatra in April to work with the critically endangered orangutans.
Miss Gelfling is passionate about animals.
She has worked for the last seven years as a veterinary nurse at the Bonny Hills Veterinary Clinic.
"I knew from day one I wanted to be a vet nurse," she said. "I left school early so I could start as soon as possible."
She describes her job as "rewarding".
"When we save an animal it is amazing to see them go home," she said.
Miss Gelfling grew up on a hobby farm at Blackmans Point surrounded by animals.
"We always had a gazillion pets," she said.
When she moved to Port Macquarie she was determined not to leave her pets behind.
"I've moved into town but I've managed to cram a mini petting zoo in my backyard," she said.
Miss Gelfling will travel to Sumatra for a week in April to work with The Orangutan Project.
The Orangutan Project works to rescue and rehabilitate orangutans.
Miss Gelfling describes the orangutans as in "dire straits" due to the loss of habitat.
"They are being threatened with extinction because of the palm oil industry," she said.
Both the Sumatran and Bornean species are classified as 'critically endangered' according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Miss Gelfling is self-funding her trip to Sumatra but hopes to leave a donation to The Orangutan Project. Her fundraiser is through gofundme and can be accessed here.
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