Can you imagine living for two years without seeing the light of day? That's what happened to this young orangutan that was kept as a "pet."
Kotap, a 4-year-old male orangutan, was discovered in a man's yard in Indonesia in a small, barred-up cage with no light coming through. The wooden cage was only 10 square feet and the wild ape had been living in confinement without his mother for 2 years.
International Animal Rescue (IAR) were horrified at what they found upon investigation.
Baco, the man who owned the orangutan, said some villagers gave him the ape, and he kept Kotap in the wooden box because he didn't want the orangutan to "disturb the neighbors."
When rescuers finally convinced Baco to hand over Kotap to them, they found the ape alone inside the wooden cage with only a plastic straw and water bottle.
Kotap's captor fed the primate a diet of bread, rice, uncooked instant noodles, and sugary drinks.
According to a viral video posted online, Kotap should have been under the care of older orangutans, because at his age, many are still learning basic social skills and how to climb in the jungle.
Because the orangutan wasn't used to the outside world at all, rescuers were concerned about how he'd react to being outdoors.
"Kotap was very stressed by all the strangers who gathered to see him when he was taken out of the box," said Uwi, a vet with the IAR.
"He became nervous and aggressive which is not surprising. So during the long journey back to the centre we kept people away from him so that he remained as quiet and calm as possible."
Continue to the next page to see the video and find out what happened!
Luckily, the rescue crew got Kotap into a crate and brought him to be rehabilitated with other orangutans.
"Kotap lived a sad and solitary existence, unable to exercise or behave in any way like a wild orangutan," said Alan Knight, Chief Executive of the IAR.
"Thankfully now he will join other rescued orangutans at our centre and be given a chance of returning to the forest where he belongs."
Watch the video of the rescue below:
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