by This is the touching story of a 10-month-old baby orangutan who suffered severe neglect at the hands of his previous human, (don’t worry, there’s a happy ending!)
Budi, a baby orangutan is ꜰɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ to overcome his ᴀᴘᴘᴀʟʟɪɴɢ encounter with humans which saw him ᴄᴀɢᴇᴅ in a chicken coop and fed on condensed milk for virtually the whole of the ten months he has been ᴀʟɪᴠᴇ. The milk provided virtually no nourishment for Budi, causing his bones to become ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʀᴍᴇᴅ in his tiny body.
A woman in a remote village handed Budi over to International Animal Rᴇsᴄᴜᴇ (IAR) in Indonesia after she kept him as a pet. While it’s unclear how she came to possess him, Budi’s sᴜꜰꜰᴇʀɪɴɢ was apparent.
At an age when he should be rapidly gaining strength and agility in the forests with his family, Budi’s tiny body was frail from neglect and sᴡᴏʟʟᴇɴ from malnourishment, so much so that IAR medical staff wasn’t sure he would make it.
“He was deprived of all the nutrients that are vital to the development of a young baby. His owner’s ignorance and neglect were ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ him slowly and ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟʟʏ,” said Alan Knight OBE, the CEO of International Animal Rᴇsᴄᴜᴇ charity based in Uckfield in East Sussex.
“It breaks my ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ to think of the ᴘᴀɪɴ Budi was in as he became more and more sick. Eventually his owner told the authorities that she wished to hand over the small baby orangutan she was keeping as a pet.”
IAR vets made him as comfortable as possible and medicated him to try to relieve his suffering. But the little fighter made it and is now, slowly, getting stronger by the day. Budi isn’t in the best shape, but his doctors are confident that little Budi will be back to his original health with the right nutrition, therapy, and treatment.
Orangutans are an easy target for ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀs, ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ for food in some areas or in ʀᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs when they move into agricultural areas and destroy crops. Females in particular are most often ʜᴜɴᴛᴇᴅ. When caught with offspring, the young are often kept as pets by ignorant owners with no idea of their needs.
