Poor Uncle Fatty was too fat (Picture: Viral Press)

Remember Uncle Fatty, the obese monkey who was sent to a weight loss boot camp?

Well, after putting in loads of hard work and sticking to an intensive diet and exercise regimen, Uncle is finally going to be released into the wild.

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The chubby macaque used to lounge around the beach-side Bang Khun Thian district in Bangkok, where visitors would constantly give him fattening food.

Thai conservation officials got involved after photos of his humongous protruding belly were shared on social media.


They tracked him down and found him hanging out with tourists in the resort, gorging on unhealthy food he was being given.

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Uncle Fatty just couldn’t say no to food (Picture: Viral Press)

At the time he weighed a hefty 27kg – while a normal macaque should only weigh around eight to 10 kilograms.



After confirming that he didn’t have a tumour, officials immediately put Uncle Fatty into rehabilitation.

Uncle was put on a strict diet of healthy fruits and vegetables – a big dietary change from the jellies, sugary yoghurt drinks, watermelons and fizzy drinks he was given by tourists.

And this is what he looks like now!

Uncle Fatty after his dramatic (er) transformation (Picture: Thai PBS)

Natanon Panpetch, a vet at the Wildlife Conservation Office, told local site Coconuts: ‘His tummy no longer drags on the ground. He is in perfect health and ready to be released. He has grown accustomed to the natural foods.’

Uncle now weighs 24.72kg – which is still big for a macaque, but it means that he’s lost around 8% of his body weight.

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Officials are now discussing how they can stop people feeding the monkeys, who can easily find their own food in the mangrove.

‘A macaque is supposed to eat crabs or clams in the mangrove,’ Natanon added. ‘We do not recommend people feed the monkeys at all.

‘(Uncle Fatty) does not know what food he should not eat. He eats whatever he finds delicious.’