Orangutan Too Fat To Stand Up, Vet Gets Shock Of His Life When He Sees What’s In His Belly

When pictures show up online of a giant orangutan in bad shape, veterinarian Charles immediately feels the need to examine the animal—mainly because people who know more about the zoo it is located in know that this is not caused by overfeeding. There had to be something else going on, and Charles was dying to find out.

When the vet finally got the chance to examine the orangutan, he was shocked by his discovery. When veterinarian Charles finally got into the enclosure with the giant orangutan, the animal barely even paid attention to him. It looked weak and seemed completely unable to move from its spot. Charles swallowed his nerves and started to examine the creature.

It quickly became clear to him that the speculations had been right—this was not a case of overfeeding at all. There was something else going on with this animal. He knew that there was no time to lose if he wanted to give this animal any chance of surviving. But what caused this orangutan to get so big? What did Charles find when examining it? And would he be able to save this poor creature?

Visitors had been speaking up about their concern for a while now, but it seemed like the employees of the privatized zoo just did not care about their orangutan. The staff completely ignored the comments. They said it was common for orangutans to be this fat. The poor animal—just like all the other creatures in the zoo—spent its days in a relatively small enclosure, and it was not normal for them to look unmotivated. “They are simply not used to anything else,” they claimed.

But this was different. The orangutan, named Toothy, had recently gained an enormous amount of weight. In recent times, it even seemed like it was not moving around the enclosure at all anymore. All the orangutan did was lie down for whole days, hours at a time. It looked like a classic case of overfeeding to most of the visitors seeing the orangutan, but people who knew a little bit more about the zoo and its owners knew that this was very unlikely to be the case. Strange things do happen often in this zoo.

One day, an off-duty police officer took his kids to the zoo, as they wanted to see all the animals so badly. He was not a fan of the concept, but for his kids’ happiness, he was willing to make an exception. But what he saw horrified him. The cage—small enclosure, poor living conditions, and bad health of some of the animals—brought tears to his eyes. And when he saw the orangutan, it pushed him over the edge.

He felt that it was his duty to do something about the animals’ situation. The next day at work, he immediately opened up an investigation into the zoo to see if he could get it shut down on the basis of neglect—or even animal cruelty. Because it is a big task to investigate a zoo, he asked a colleague to help him along. He had made pictures on his trip that he was going to use as evidence, and at some point, these actually got published.

And mainly, the picture of the orangutan got a lot of attention online.

The photo was accompanied by the story that the animal was seemingly unable to stand up and that its size most likely did not come from overfeeding. This raised even more questions online. It was the main topic of discussion in the largest online forums, and all this eventually got the attention of a vet who was located fairly close to the zoo.

He was shocked by the picture of the orangutan, but he was also extremely curious as to what could have caused this unbelievable increase in size. On the website of the zoo, there were also pictures of all the animals, and they were about a year old. But in those pictures, the orangutan in question was still very much normal-looking. So, it could only have gotten so fat in the last 12 months.

How could such a dramatic increase in size possibly happen in a year’s time when apparently the animal had been dramatically overfed?

The vet, who was named Charles, decided to call the zoo to get some more info. He was somewhat surprised when the phone was answered by a police officer. Apparently, the case against the zoo had already taken shape very much, and the police had closed down the zoo. The investigation was in full swing—they were in the process of collecting evidence to make the case against the owner stronger, and the animal was being taken care of by professionals they employed.

But this was a slow process. In addition, the owner of the zoo was just not happy that the entire zoo had to close. There were a lot of animals that needed medical help, and all of them needed to be transferred to a new home, as this zoo was not capable of housing any of them humanely.

Here’s where Charles saw an opportunity to get a closer look at the orangutan. As a self-employed vet himself, he offered to come to help out at the zoo with the animals—an offer which the police gladly accepted, as they could use all the help they could get. They could put the man’s years of experience to good use.

Charles traveled to the zoo that very same afternoon, and although he was intent on helping as many animals as possible, he had to admit that his first focus was very much on the orangutan. He thought there was no time to waste.

When he arrived, he got briefed by the vet actually leading the efforts to help the animals. He seemed really optimistic, but when Charles asked him about the orangutan, his expression changed. He began to look a little hopeless.

They had not yet gotten around to checking the animal out, and in all honesty, it also was not high on their list of priorities. They actually already kind of gave up on the animal after seeing what state it was in.

When Charles finally got to examine the orangutan, he figured out that it had actually swallowed a heap of plastic, which was making it sick and causing it to swell up. Luckily, removing it was a quick fix for the problem, and after a month of recovery, the animal was back to full health.

Charles was in a pickle. Although he had anticipated the situation, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. He had been looking forward to getting a closer look at the infamous orangutan, but that would not be possible—at least, not yet.

The attending vet had other plans. According to the vet, the zoo had been incredibly lax in their treatment of all the animals. There were far too many animals that would need to have priority care before he would attend to the orangutan.

This had not been part of Charles’s plan, but it was clear he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. As a vet himself, he had an ethical responsibility to all the animals. Charles nodded and turned to assist the main vet in any way that he could.

He was assigned to perform health checks on all the animals that needed to be transported out that day. This would end up taking about two hours of his time.

Finally, the priority animals had been sent out to their new homes, and the last of the remaining animals would be leaving in the following days. Charles was finally free to do what he had set his mind on.

Waving goodbye to the volunteers and staff as they headed home for the day, Charles smiled to himself.

Charles was very excited, but he couldn’t shake off the growing feeling of fear. Regardless of how weak the animal was, it was still a wild animal—and a large predator at that. He knew he would have to be as patient and calm as possible to avoid agitating the orangutan.

This was a level of risk that none of the other staff or volunteers were willing to take on. Everyone else had resigned themselves to the death of the orangutan. Charles was more than aware that he would indeed be treating the orangutan alone.

But luckily, Charles was a very admirable and selfless decision to make.

Charles walked slowly, not wanting to alert the orangutan. However, the orangutan ignored Charles’s entire presence in the cage. This caused him to wonder if the animal had passed away already—but seconds later, he watched as the orangutan took a deep breath.

Charles sighed in relief. Now, he would have to get closer.

Approaching the orangutan slowly, Charles made slow but visible movements to calm the orangutan—but nothing seemed to faze the animal. The orangutan turned a lazy eye toward Charles but showed no interest. Its presence was acknowledged, but it remained indifferent.

Charles examined the animal carefully, unsure if its stillness was due to weakness or a lack of concern. The orangutan’s bloated stomach was alarming. While not entirely due to fatty tissue, the swelling was excessive, suggesting a serious issue that had been developing for some time.

Something was clearly wrong.

While checking for pressure points, Charles noticed something unusual: There was no waste around the orangutan’s enclosure. For an animal that had barely moved in months, this was a red flag.

It became clear—the orangutan was suffering from a severe digestive issue. It was unable to defecate.

There was only one way to find out the cause: surgery.

Charles had the necessary tools in his medical kit, but there was a major risk. Sedating an animal this size in a weakened state could be fatal—especially since he would be operating alone.

After some hesitation, he realized the situation would only worsen. Time was running out. If the orangutan had any chance of survival, the operation had to happen immediately.

Charles administered the sedative. Within minutes, the orangutan was asleep. As its breathing stabilized, he made the first incision.

Though it had been some time since veterinary school, he was familiar with the anatomy of an orangutan and had studied the specific breed the night before. He carefully worked his way toward the source of the problem.

The orangutan’s bowels were stretched beyond normal limits, packed with unreleased waste—but something else was blocking the passage. Charles massaged the area and made a precise cut. Suddenly, a flood of waste spilled out, releasing the immense pressure in the animal’s bowels.

Then, he found the cause of the blockage: a ball of plastic trays.

It was clear what had happened. The orangutan had ingested the transparent food trays used by the zoo staff. They had failed to remove the lining, leading to this life-threatening obstruction.

With steady hands, Charles carefully removed the plastic without damaging the delicate intestinal lining. Once the blockage was out, he cleaned the area, stitched the incision, and provided the orangutan with fluids to prevent dehydration.

Now, all they could do was wait.

The next morning, Charles returned to check on his patient, anxious about the outcome. But what he saw shocked him.

The orangutan was already showing signs of recovery.

The primary vet and staff were amazed. The animal’s rapid improvement was nothing short of a medical miracle.

Charles sighed in relief as the team thanked him for saving the orangutan’s life. Smiling, he made a decision: He would personally oversee its recovery until it was ready for transport to its new home at the zoo.