In a small village called Kareng Pangi, deep within Central Kalimantan, Borneo, a young female Orangutan named Pony endured unimaginable horror. She was chained to a filthy mattress in a makeshift brothel, her body shaved, her spirit broken, and her innocence stolen. What happened to Pony is one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking cases of animal sexual abuse ever documented.

Pony’s nightmare began when poachers murdered her mother. An all-too-common method used to capture baby Orangutans from the wild. The terrified infant was then sold illegally to a brothel, where her captors subjected her to sexual slavery. Every few days, they shaved her entire body, bathed and perfumed her, and applied makeup to make her appear more human. Then, they chained her to a bed and forced her to perform sexual acts with men who paid between two and three dollars per encounter (same price charged for a human sex worker).

The men who abused her were clearly not driven by desperation or poverty; they sought her out because she was helpless. Because she could not resist. Because cruelty gave them power.

When the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) learned about Pony, they joined forces with local authorities to plan her rescue but those that benefitted from Pony’s suffering refused to let her go. They fought to keep her. It took over a year of negotiations and preparation before authorities could safely move in. In 2003, a team of 35 armed police officers carrying AK-47s entered the village and freed her.

What they found was devastating. Pony was terrified of humans, her skin completely bare and covered in sores from years of shaving and infection. Whenever a man approached, she automatically assumed a submissive position; a conditioned response from repeated sexual assault, since her refusal led to severe beatings.

Pony’s physical injuries could be treated, but her emotional wounds ran deep. Years of captivity left her unable to survive in the wild, and her behavior showed signs of severe trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yet despite everything she fought hard to live.

At the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation center, under the care of BOS Foundation, Pony began the slow process of healing. Through Physiotherapy, enrichment activities, and socialization with other rescued Orangutans, she started to trust again. She even learned to feel safe around male caregivers; an extraordinary sign of her strength and capacity to forgive.

As of late 2024, Pony is in good health and continues to live at the Nyaru Menteng socialization complex. She may never return to the wild, but the foundation hopes she will soon move to a sanctuary Island, a place where she can live peacefully, surrounded by nature, free from fear and harm.

Pony’s story is not just about one Orangutan. It is a mirror held up to humanity, exposing the depths of cruelty that thrive when greed and domination go unchecked. Her suffering is a reminder that exploitation, in any form, is rooted in the same mindset that enables Gender-Based Violence and sexual abuse across the world.

At Protect Girl Image Organization (PGIO), we speak for the voiceless and stand against all forms of sexual exploitation; be it human or otherwise. Violence against the vulnerable is not justified. Whether it happens to a girl to a girl in a hidden room or to an Orangutan in a cage, the violation is the same: a theft of dignity, freedom, and life. We must never look away. We must speak, act and Protect, because silence only protects the abuser, never the abused.