Orphaned Monkey ‘Jao Khun’ Arrives

Yesterday we welcomed a very young male long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) to the WFFT Wildlife Rescue Centre. A few days ago we got a telephone call from someone who had been keeping him as a pet for 3 weeks after finding him in the Sireerukachart Botanical Garden, in Nakhon Pathom Province. There is no known wild macaque population in the area so we would assume that he either escaped from somewhere or is a dumped unwanted pet. Luckily he was found and ultimately saved. They kept him for 3 weeks before realizing that he needs specialist care and it not a suitable pet. He was fed on only bananas, for a macaque who is only 2-3 months this is not a suitable diet, macaques infant are not weaned until after 6 months of age. Little Jao Khun as he was called is underweight due to only being fed bananas for the past 3 weeks. He clings onto a small giraffe teddy for comfort, at this age he would be attached to his mother for literally every hour of the day. He is also showing some odd behavior by sucking his own penis or his thumb, this is a sign of stress and must bring him some sort of comfort. Luckily for him, he is now in safe hands, we plan to introduce him to some other infant orphans once he has gone through a quarantine period and settled in. Watch this space for updates.