baby orangutans
Mingky was a baby orangutan like the one pictured Getty

Heartfelt photos have been published of an orphaned baby orangutan chained by the neck between two walls in Indonesia – Mingky has since been rescued by animal welfare workers.

Mingky was found hugging himself after his owner kept him in an alley between two houses for his family's entertainment. He was given as a present by a tropical poacher who captured him while roaming remote woodland, according to a report by The Mirror.

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Panut Hadisiswoyo, from the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia, where Mingky is now staying to recover, said: "The man who was holding Mingky captive said he wanted him to be chained in his premises as entertainment for his family.

"He'd feed him bits of fruit and sometimes rice. But it was no life for Mingky.

"Through our intelligence network, we discovered the orangutan illegally held in a house in a rural area near Blang Pidie city, Aceh Barat Daya.

"He was chained to a wall between two houses and we estimated that he was around three-years -old."

The owner will not face prosecution as he received the orangutan as a gift and was willing to give him up.

"It is extremely important that our team is able to continue to be in the field monitoring conflict situations and/or isolated forest patches containing orangutans, so that these smaller but still vital populations are not lost," Hadisiswoyo added.