I am writing as I have recently seen photographs in an article by Friends of The Orangutans about a lonely looking orangutan called Katarina. I believe she is at a small zoo in Malaysia and is living in very bad conditions.

The world knows that these wonderful animals are endangered, so I would expect to see this orangutan carefully looked after and protected. Instead, I am seeing a sad and lonely great ape, one who craves stimulation and stares out with intelligent eyes.

She is stuck in a bare cage, with no leaves for bedding and with nothing to stimulate her brain. There appears to be no enrichment at all, she just sits there. I am reading that there are no keepers around her and that tourists are throwing objects in to the cage, things that could hurt her.

I am angry and upset I feel something should be done, does anyone in the government hold this zoo to account? Do they just not have enough money? Something needs to be done, and soon, so that this orangutan can live out the rest of her life with some dignity.

What about the  sanctuary in Sarawak, Borneo that was suggested in the article? Can this orangutan be removed there, where there seen to be people with a genuine care and understanding of these animals?

I don't believe keeping Katarina at this ‘prison’ is going to help the zoo. I know I will tell people to avoid it, as no-one wants to see animals in that state. If the funding is not there, remove her to a place that can care for her properly, before this zoo becomes the next Surabaya and takes the crown of Malaysia’s worst zoo.

What can be done to help Katarina?