READERS may have seen the BBC documentary 'Di-Di's Story,' shown over the Easter weekend, about an orang-utan pet which was returned to the forest in Borneo.

Sadly, however, not all rescued orang-utans at the Wanariset Reintroduction Centre in Borneo had been so well treated.

Many, like Di-Di, had been smuggled abroad to be sold as exotic pets and then abandoned when they grew too big.

Thousands more of these endangered animals, whose mothers are slaughtered for food, are captured by hunters and kept chained or in tiny cages in villages in Borneo.

The centre has rescued more than 100 orang-utans so far and has already released more than 60 into the forest reserve and it must expand if further releases are to take place.

The long and difficult process of rehabilitation is also expensive in money and time. If your readers would like to give other orang-utans a chance of freedom, they can send donations to: WSPA, Dept PE18, Freepost, Northampton NN3 1BR.

HILARY CROSS, Press Officer, World Society for the Protection of Animals, London SW8.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.