A rare Assam macaque has been returned to and is now living in a nature reserve in Yunnan Province after being kept as a pet for 14 years, the local nature reserve bureau said on Monday.

On Wednesday, the bureau received a call from a villager saying that he wanted to free a monkey he raised. "We went to his home and found an Assam macaque, a protected animal, but the villager did not seem to be aware of that," said Wang Xinwen, a member of bureau staff.

The macaque is about 15 years old and weighs 30 kg, Wang said. There are only about 8,000 Assam macaques in China.

Cha Xuan, the man who kept the macaque in his home, said 14 years ago he saw people capturing the animal and felt sorry for it because its hands were injured, so he bought it and took it home.

Over the years, he built a deep connection with the macaque but when the animal became agitated this spring, Cha decided he wanted him to return to the forest to find a mate.