Orangutan forced to chew off own hand to escape from snare recovering

An orphaned orangutan who was forced to gnaw off its own hand to escape from a snare is now recovering after life-saving surgery. Pelangsi lived off nothing but rainwater for 10 days before chewing off his own hand in a desperate bid to escape. Thankfully the orphan was eventually rescued by the team at International Animal Rescue in Indonesia.
Pelangsi now could be released back into the wild in just a few months after a five-hour operation to amputate his damaged hand and arm. Karmele Llano Sanchez, Veterinary Director at International Animal Rescue Indonesia, said Pelangsi was looking alert and eating. "Pelangsi was clearly young and fit before getting trapped in the snare," he said.

"While it is a tragedy that he has lost his limb this is far better than him losing his life through septicaemia. There is no reason why he shouldn't return to the wild and fend for himself again. He's a wild orangutan so finds it quite stressful to be in captivity, he tries to hide under the foliage in his cage whenever we approach him with darts and the blowpipe to sedate him." Alan Knight, the charity's chief executive, said Pelangsi's story reflected the plight of many orang-utans in Borneo.

"He was driven from the forest when it was destroyed to make room for a palm oil plantation," he said. "He was forced into an area where wildlife and humans are competing for space and food. Unfortunately we came too late to save his damaged hand but we certainly saved his life." The team are now looking for a potential release site for Pelangsi so he can be released into a safe area of forest which is free from man-made threats.