Uncle Fatty, the Bangkok macaque famous for his enormous tummy, will soon be released back into the wild after a three-month stay in a government facility having his calories monitored.
Uncle Fatty used to lounge around the beach-side Bang Khun Thian district and tip the scales at a hefty 27 kilograms, today he is still-chubby 24.72 kilograms — so he lost about 8 percent of his body weight.
News reports of Uncle Fatty and photos of him binging caused concerned wildlife officials to take action and put the obese monkey in rehabilitation in May.
“His tummy no longer drags on the ground,” Natanon Panpetch, a veterinarian at the Wildlife Conservation Office told Coconuts.
“He is in a perfect health and ready to be released. He has grown accustomed to the natural foods,” Natanon said.
Since mid-May, Uncle Fatty has been put on a strict diet of healthy fruits and vegetables under the watchful eyes of staff at the Wildlife Conservation Office — a big change for the monkey who was used to being fed jellies, sugary yogurt drinks, sweet watermelons, and even soft drinks by tourists.
He was transported to a local facility in Bang Khun Thian today to get accustomed to the natural habitat and is expected to join his family within a week.
But Uncle Fatty doesn’t have a beach body just yet, as a normal macaque only weighs 8-10 kilograms. Wildlife staff and the district officials will discuss how to prevent people from feeding the monkeys as they can easily find food in the district’s mangrove.
“A macaque is supposed to eat crabs or clams in the mangrove. We do not recommend people feed the monkeys at all,” Natanon said.
“He [Uncle Fatty] does not know what food he should not eat. He eats whatever he finds delicious,” she said.
Check out Coconuts TV’s video, when we followed up with Uncle Fatty three weeks into his diet
