Wildlife activist Edwin Wiek said yesterday that Milo was “a bit weak, but in good spirits” after being dumped in the jungle while still in a cage.

More than 12,000 people signed a petition organised by Change.org calling for “Help for Milo”. Wiek, from the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand, said his group would pay for Milo to live at a National Parks facility in Ratchaburi. She is expected to be shifted there shortly.

Animal lovers were calling for the closure of a zoo in Phuket after it admitted releasing the orangutan to avoid prosecution. Orangutans are protected and cannot be kept without a licence, under the CITES convention.

The Phuket Zoo was found to be in illegal possession of Milo for the past two years. When wildlife officials moved in to confiscate the animal, zoo officials said they had released her into the surrounding jungle.

“Not only were they keeping an endangered animal without a licence, they released an invasive species into a protected jungle without permission,” Wiek told DPA. He had feared the animal – kept in captivity for a long time – may not survive in the wild.