Orangutan Gets More Than 100 Pellet Gun Shots, Somehow Survives

A few weeks ago, a team of conservationists in charge of monitoring an oil palm plantation in Indonesian Borneo came across a female orangutan which had been shot more than one hundred times with a pellet gun.

At that time, virtually everybody who caught a glimpse at the orangutan's injuries agreed that its chances of survival were slim to none, given the fact that 37 of the pellets were lodged in its head and the remaining 67 were spread across the rest of its body.

However, recent news informs us that, in spite of these massive injuries, Aan – as this female orangutan was named by the conservationists who rescued it – has managed to survive and there is hope that its general health will eventually improve.

Hortono, the leader of a local conservation agency, explained how, “Even though she is eating, she is still, technically, fighting for her life. She has been very seriously injured and she could relapse at any moment. But she's a true fighter. She's fighting very hard,” Daily Mail reports.

Huffington Post explains that, because of the seriousness of some of its wounds, it is very well possible than Aan will remain blind either in one, or in both its eyes. As well as this, its sense of hearing might be permanently damaged.

Because of this, odds are that conservationists will never be able to return this ape to its natural habitat. This means that Aan will most likely have to spend the rest of its life in a wildlife sanctuary.

Presently, orangutans are listed as an endangered species, and could soon become extinct due to the fact that human activities such as illegal logging and the conversion of forest lands to palm oil plantations are negatively impacting on their natural habitats.

Hopefully, more information on this topic will soon be made available to the general public.