What Japik the orangutan who spent two years chained to a tree looks like now

Since coming out of quarantine she has 'bypassed pre-school and baby school and gone straight into forest school'

Japik, during captivity (left) and three months after he rescue (IAR)

An orangutan who was found chained to a tree in Borneo three months ago is making a speedy recovery in preperation for a return to the wild.

Japik, believed to be around four or five years old, was rescued by charity workers from the International Animal Rescue (IAR), based in Uckfield, after she had been sold as a pet by a hunter who killed her mother. She was kept in captivity for two years.

At the time the Japik was rescued, Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, said: “It was pouring with rain when our team arrived on the scene and at first they couldn’t see Japik. They spotted what they thought was a pile of old rags on the plank but then, when they saw it moving, they knew they had found her.

“What a miserable existence for any animal, to be trapped on a wooden plank, unable to display any natural behaviour and completely exposed to the burning sun and the driving rain. The chain was so short that she could only move a couple of feet on either side of the tree.”

Since coming out of quarantine at the IAR’s rehabilitation centre has “bypassed pre-school and baby school and gone straight into forest school”.

Mr Knight added: “Thankfully Japik’s spirit hasn’t been broken by her two years in captivity. Her independence and her ability to build nests and fend for herself are very encouraging signs that she is developing the natural behaviours that she will need to survive back in the forest.

“Japik still has a long way to go before she can be considered as a candidate for release. For the past two years, when she should have been learning about life in the forest under the watchful eye of her mother, she was kept chained to a tree, alone and forgotten.

“Her recovery from those miserable years in captivity has been remarkable and we will continue to do everything we can to help Japik on her long journey back to the wild.”