Rocket, a seven year old Macaque monkey was found wandering the streets of Bangkok with a metal arrow protruding out of his face. Authorities say it was shot out of a harpoon gun, possibly by someone using Rocket as target practice.
A woman named Mongkul Plus found the injured Macaque, and said she was surprised he was still alive. Terrified and not knowing he was being rescued, Rocket jumped into a nearby lake when she approached him, trying to escape further harm.
Plus was determined to rescue the monkey, eventually she caught him and hastily brought him to an emergency vet. The x-rays taken show that the arrow narrowly missed Rockets brain and spine. A very close call, anything further would have killed him.
He’s expected to make a full recovery from his injuries, although there is one lasting condition that has the vet concerned – Rocket is quite fat.
When living in an urban setting, the Macaque monkeys tend to become overweight from eating human food. Tourists feed the animals, thinking they’re doing them a favour only to have the monkey’s gain an unhealthy amount of weight.
Rocket will be released back into the wild as soon as he has made a full recovery, hopefully he sticks to a more natural diet.