Injured 'monkey king' back in the wild after rescue

A vet cuts nylon cord which had caused a wound on the right leg of the monkey king. [Photo/Weibo.com]

The story of the injured wild monkey in Southwest China which went viral online has had a happy ending.

The primate, spotted at the Mount Emei scenic spot at the weekend, was found, treated and on Thursday released back into the wild to the relief of Internet users.

Vets removed a nylon cord in a wound on the right leg of the injured 12-year-old, and cleaned, disinfected and bound the wound, after Mount Emei staff found and anesthetized the monkey on Wednesday.

Collecting the knocked out monkey wasn't easy as staff had to throw food to distract the attention of around 40 other animals following their leader or "monkey king".

Staff spent 10 hours in a temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius to locate the monkey on Tuesday, because sleeping pills they had managed to get it to ingest a day earlier had not achieved the desired effect.

They spent a day tracking the injured animal on Sunday after a photo had been posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo the previous afternoon. The photo, seemingly depicting the primate showing its wound to a passerby and seeking help, tugged at many Internet users' heart strings.

After being released, the monkey king appeared reluctant to leave the vets who had helped it, looking back repeatedly as it headed home.

Internet users expressed their concerns on social media, as a hot topic with the hashtag #Monkey in Mount Emei asks a passerby for help# which had been read more than 11 million times by late Wednesday night, with most comments saying that the monkey is so lovely, please help it.

"People are more and more concerned with wildlife protection due to a strengthening ecological environment protection," Chen Yong, a professor from the School of Journalism and Communication at China West Normal University told Huaxi Metropolis Daily in response to being asked why an ordinary monkey had become an online hit.

"The Year of the Monkey also contributed to the huge response," Chen added.