An obese monkey who became a cult figure due to his massive size has been missing for five months.
The primate, nicknamed Uncle Fatty, is feared dead after not being seen since February 26 when environmentalists lost track of him in Bangkok, Thailand.
He had ballooned to twice the average size of a long-tailed macaque at 33lbs after tourists visiting Khun Kala Monument kept on feeding him high calorie food and drink.
Concerned animal workers sent Uncle Fatty, 20, to a weight loss camp in 2017 to try to get him to shed the pounds but he fell off the wagon when he returned home.
We Love Monkey Club president Kavinaphat Mongkoltechachat said monkey specialists had told him they thought Uncle Fatty was dead.
He said: ‘They told me that when monkeys know that they’re very weak, they will isolate themselves and won’t let any other monkeys or anyone see them dying.
‘He might have died of old age because Uncle Fatty has already lived beyond the age average. He also looked exhausted and didn’t want to eat much.’
Mr Mongkoltechachat will continue to look for the monkey, who had lived longer than the average for his species, to find out what had happened to him.
He added: ‘Our staff always saw him sitting in front of the monument every time they came to feed the pack.
‘But one day, he was just gone.
‘We thought that he was just sick and might have gone into a deep forest to heal himself.
‘We decided to search there the following week but still couldn’t find him.’
