Obese monkey dubbed 'Uncle Fatty' feared dead after disappearing from Thai fat camp

An obese monkey who became a star after being sent to a fat camp is feared dead after vets have not seen him for the last four months.

The chubby primate, dubbed Uncle Fatty, was sent to a weight loss farm in 2017 after being seen dragging around his huge belly in Bangkok, Thailand.

Sadly, the strict regime and eating habits didn't last and the monkey went back to his greedy habits - stealing food from other creatures in the area where he roamed.

Environmentalists monitored his progress but the last time he was seen alive was on February 26.

Locals asked the police to look for the ape but still have been unable to find his body around Khun Kala Monument where he was a pack leader.

It is now feared that Uncle Fatty has either become lost, relocated to a new area or even been killed. While superstitious locals believe that the lack of a corpse adheres to a long-held legend that the forest ''reclaims'' the bodies of the monkeys.

Kavinaphat Mongkoltechachat, the president of the We Love Monkey Club, said on Sunday (July 7): ''Our staff always saw him sitting in front of the monument every time they came to feed the pack. But one day, he was just gone.

"We thought that he was just sick and might have gone into a deep forest to heal himself. We decided to search there the following week but still couldn't find him."

The concerned monkey lover shared the story of Uncle Fatty’s disappearance to many monkey specialists, who all presumed that the twenty-year-old monkey was already dead.

He added: ''They told me that when monkeys know that they’re very weak, they will isolate themselves and won’t let any other monkeys or anyone see them dying.

''He might have died of old age because Uncle Fatty has already lived beyond the average age. He also looked exhausted and didn’t want to eat much.''

However, there is no evidential support for the conclusion since the body of the famous monkey has not yet been found.

''We’ll keep searching for him because we’re still worried about him. It might be sad if we discover that he really is dead but it’s better than not knowing anything at all,'' Kavinaphat added.