A blind Sumatran orangutan named Leuser was poached, sold as a gift, rescueed by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, and returned to the wild. Then, villagers seeking entertainment shot him 62 times. He has been rescued again, and his story is told in photos here.

  • kaplanfx

    What kind of stupid conservation program releases a BLIND Orangutan back into the wild???

    • bryan rasmussen

      as someone with one really good ecology course in college I might have guessed a good one, but the following document causes me to think that your assessment might be correct:
      http://www.yorku.ca/arusson/Papers/23-Wich-Russon-rehab-small.pdf

      • kaplanfx

        Based on your ecology course, what would have lead you to think it was a good idea (before you read the linked article)?

    • http://www.facebook.com/jjvwjjvw Joshua Van Wie

      What  kind of blind orangutan can survive being shot 62 times?

      • kaplanfx

        From the article it sounds like it was some sort of pellet gun so that’s why it wasn’t fatal.  Pretty sad story.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jennifer.mclachlan.35 Jennifer McLachlan

      Leuser was blinded AFTER being returned to the wild. He now lives in the conservation program’s quarantine center.  Try reading the whole piece before you comment.

      • kaplanfx

        You are correct, he was blinded by the pellet shots.  I was confused due to the language on the blog post ”
        A blind Sumatran orangutan named Leuser was poached, sold as a gift, rescueed by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, and returned to the wild.”  Sounds like he was blind to begin with but I was obviously incorrect.

        • http://twitter.com/beep54orama B E Pratt

           Yep. The language in the post is highly misleading.

  • fuzzyfuzzyfungus

    Oh those colorful natives and their harmonious harmony with nature…

  • Culturedropout

    Well shit.  Better tell SpaceX to hurry.  I’m not sure how much longer this planet will be viable.

  • RJ

    Anyone who delights in torture isn’t human, as far as I’m concerned; but they are dangerous and ought to be culled. Six months in the can is a joke.

    • Daemonworks

       Depends on the jail, really….

  • paux

    That just makes me want to cry.  He has been handed bad card after bad card and now is going to live out the rest of his days behind bars.  That is no way for any creature to live, especially one as intelligent and soulful as an orangutan.

  • buster_friendly

    My hatred of palm oil has just grown by an order of magnitude.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6LOJDBXCDHL5MVQQRLOCCJ35AY alexb

       Check your peanut butter then…

  • TheKaz1969

    We need to send Terry Pratchett over there to shoot the villagers…