A tragic post about Opal, a 45-year-old orangutan kept in solitary confinement, is trending again, nine years after it first broke hearts. But this time, it’s not just sadness that’s spreading… it’s action.
South Africa (12 April 2025) – Every so often, a story resurfaces on social media that stops you in your tracks. This week, that story is about Opal the orangutan.
If you’ve seen the post about the orangutan kept in solitary confinement at a zoo outside Pietermaritzburg, you’re not alone. The heartbreaking words are being widely shared once more. Many think it’s new. Many are reacting with fresh horror. But here’s the thing… it was first published nine years ago.
And while that fact might feel like a punch to the gut, there is good news here.
Opal’s story has not disappeared into the void. It’s endured. It’s echoed. And it’s been seen by millions. Since it was first published in 2016 by the Kloof and Highway SPCA, it’s been featured by major news outlets across South Africa, including eNCA, News24, The Citizen and The Witness. It’s crossed timelines, platforms, and even borders… moving more people each year to ask how something like this could possibly still be happening.
Below is a video from a protest in 2021.
Opal is a 45-year-old orangutan, a species known for their intelligence, emotional depth and strong maternal bonds. In the wild, they thrive in dense forests, constantly moving through trees, building new nests each night and raising their young with immense care and devotion. For Opal, however, life has looked very different.
The original SPCA statement described her enclosure as a “barren daytime cell, equipped with a few poles as a makeshift jungle gym, surrounded by a rotating crowd of onlookers. She is alone. She has no trees to climb, no rain to shield from, no other orangutans for company. The loneliness she’s endured is unimaginable.”
And yet, her story has stayed alive. That’s the remarkable part.
A year ago, a petition was launched, and it now sits at over 81,000 signatures. That kind of public mobilisation matters. It puts pressure on decision-makers, it gives organisations like the SPCA more weight when they advocate for change and it reminds the world that we haven’t forgotten.
And there’s more: according to the original 2016 plea, there is a sanctuary that is ready to take her in. A place where she could finally know peace. Specialists in primate care have offered to rehabilitate her, to teach her how to socialise, how to feel safe again, how to live in something closer to what nature intended.
The owner of the facility where Opal lives has thus far refused these offers. In a written statement published in 2021, the Natal Zoological Gardens said they “strongly object” to “misleading emotive untruths that are posted on Facebook and other social media platforms”.
“The Natal Zoological Gardens is regularly inspected by the SPCA and while Opal is currently on her own, that has not always been the case. Orangutans are naturally semi-solitary animals. Posts on Facebook claiming Opal has always been on her own are blatantly untrue,” said a spokesperson for the zoo.
“Opal’s physical condition speaks for itself, she is a perfect example of a healthy captive orangutan.”
“Well-meaning people hit the share button without fact checking and a social media frenzy ensues with little thought for the employees and families supported by the Zoo”
But the pressure is building. The calls are getting louder. And the world is watching.
Which brings us to the positive part. The power of people. This is a real-time example of how compassion doesn’t expire. How a story from nearly a decade ago can reignite outrage and empathy. How the internet (often criticised for being a messy place) can become a collective amplifier for something that truly matters.
If you’ve shared Opal’s story recently, thank you. If you’ve signed the petition, you’ve added your voice to something far greater. And if you’ve only just discovered it now, know this: every bit of awareness helps.
We might not have saved Opal yet… but she is not forgotten. And that means everything.
To support the call for Opal’s release or find more information, you can reach out to the Kloof and Highway SPCA or sign the ongoing petition that continues to gather momentum.
Because no animal, especially one so intelligent, so emotional and so sentient, deserves to spend her days in a cage, watching the world pass by without her. Not anymore. Not when we can do better.
by 