Obese Wild Monkey In Thailand Put On Strict Diet After Getting Minions To Bring Him Junk Food

A wild monkey in Thailand, nicknamed "Uncle Fat" by locals, has had his fair share of junk food and weighs in at 60 pounds — three times the size of other macaques. The monkey has recently been captured by wildlife officials and is now on a strict diet to combat obesity.

"It was not easy to catch him," Kacha Phukem, a wildlife official who helped rescue Uncle Fat, told The Associated Press. "He was the leader of his pack, and when I tried to go in, I had to fight off a flock of them with sticks."

According to the rescue team, Uncle Fat's monkey pack helped him indulge in his eating habits.

"He had minions and other monkeys bringing food for him but he would also re-distribute it to younger monkeys," Supakarn Kaewchot, a veterinarian helping with the monkey's diet, said.

Similar to humans facing obesity, the monkey now has a high risk of heart disease and diabetes.

"After he ate food given by humans for a while, he developed a fat mass, which became a type of benign tumor," Supakarn said.


To read about what overeating does to your body, click here.