'Britain's fattest orangutan' Oshine loses 25kg on diet
An obese orangutan has lost a quarter of her body weight after swapping her diet of sweets for fruit and veg.
Oshine, 14, tipped the scales at 100kg (220lb) when she arrived at Monkey World ape rescue centre in Dorset, from South Africa, in August last year.
The Bornean orangutan had been kept as a pet for 12 years and lived on a diet of sweets and processed foods.
Having switched to a diet rich in fruit and vegetables she has lost 25kg (55lb) - her target loss for the end of 2011.
Oshine, who now weighs 75kg (165lb), lives with five other orangutans at the ape rescue centre in Wareham and has adopted an orphaned baby orangutan called Silvestre.
Her weight when she arrived in the UK led to her being dubbed "Britain's fattest orangutan".
Dr Alison Cronin, director of Monkey World, said: "Oshine has been eating a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables and lean protein the same as the rest of our orangutans.
"Combined with the exercise of climbing and playing with the youngsters in our orangutan creche, she is much healthier and a lot more active."
Dr Cronin said Oshine still had more than 20kg (44lb) to lose and said orangutans could suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease when they were obese.
Monkey World is home to Europe's only orangutan creche.