Uncle Fatty is back in the wild – and on a diet
The unusually obese long-tailed macaque – nicknamed “Lung Ou-an” (Uncle Fatty) – is fully recovered from lung inflammation and was released back to its usual haunt in Bangkok’s Bang Khunthien district on Wednesday.
Lung Ou-an also shed some fat -– it now weighs 24 kilograms down from 27 – although it is still overall much bigger than the average macaque, which weighs between 8 and 10 kilograms.
Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation captured the macaque near a floating market in April. They decided to give it a check-up as it was always seen eating, and there had been complaints that it had suffered physically from being overfed by visitors.
Following four months of treatment for obesity and a lung inflammation, Lung Ou-an now eats yoghurt and long beans. It has now rejoined the 300 other long-tailed macaques that roam the Bang Khunthien attraction.
