8 Jul 2012

Cold turkey treatment for chain-smoking orangutan

8:07 am on 8 July 2012

Conservationists say a chain-smoking orangutan who is the star attraction at an Indonesian zoo will be forced to quit cold turkey.

Tori, 15, who is at the Taru Jurug Zoo in the Javanese city of Solo, developed an addiction after visitors began throwing lit cigarettes into her enclosure when she was five.

The Centre for Orangutan Protection says it is working to get Tori moved to an island in a big lake in the zoo, away from other orangutans and where visitors can't toss her any more cigarettes.

Until then, a guard has been placed outside her cage to make sure she doesn't smoke.

The ABC reports Tori is also believed to be undergoing therapy before the attempt to make her quit.