Pony, an endangered Bornean orangutan, was forced to be a prostitute in an Indonesian village for a long time, until rescuers from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) recovered her from her captors last February 2003.
According to a report by BOSF, the six-year-old was discovered inside a darkened room in a village of Kareng Pangi, Central Kalimantan.
She was chained to a dirty mattress, wearing make-up and her whole body was shaved – making her sore from mosquito bites.
Pony was exploited by local palm oil farmers, who paid £2 to have sex with her.
“My friend Lone, who rescued Pony, had to bring in 30 army officers when she was seized,” said BOSF UK director Michelle Desilets told The Mirror.
BOSF also stated that it took a very long time before Pony’s captors gave her up, because they saw her as a cash machine.
Unfortunately, despite the organization’s best efforts to punish her captors, they never faced any charges for their actions.
After 15 years, Pony is healthier and doing better now. She is still under rehabilitation to forget her ruthless past and develop her social skills.
“We hope Pony can one day be successfully introduced to a pre-release sanctuary island with other unreleasable orangutans like her, but we are also realistic in the knowledge that her sad history in human captivity has ultimately damaged her in ways that she will always need our support,” added BSOF in their statement.
