Irish Daily Mirror

The crowds should do right thing.. & stay away

Elephants forced to do tricks, orangutans made to box each other.. all for the tourist trade

- Warren.manger@mirror.co.uk CHRIS DRAPER

Bangkok, orangutans are forced to take part in daily boxing bouts, which are proudly advertised on the zoo’s website.

In the wild, orangutans are solitary, gentle creatures. But the handlers force them to perform stunts on stage before climbing into the ring to fight.

The female orangutans, who act as ring girls, even have their pants pulled down for a cheap laugh.

Aare doing it because they are afraid, often subjected to electric shocks, cigarette burns or beatings if they do not obey.”

Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand have been fighting the cruel tourist industry for 17 years. A spokesman said: “Thailand has numerous attraction­s which exploit wild and domestic animals. “Some are operating obtaining animals illegally. “I visited a well known Bangkok zoo and witnessed huge numbers of infant chimpanzee­s and orangutans. Many of the animals you have seen will have been illegally poached.” The Mirror asked the Thai Embassy, London, for comment. and THESE images depict the exploitati­ve and utterly disrespect­ful use of wild animals being forced to entertain the ill-informed and mindless.

Often they are illegally taken from the wild and traded for use in such shows, removed from their mothers and hand-reared.

How they are trained suggests cruelty becomes part of their everyday lives.

They are often beaten or left in barren enclosures with nothing close to what they need.

Orangutans are very intelligen­t, closely related to humans, and so share our capacity for pain.

 ??  ?? JUMBO MISERY Elephant does tricks for tourists NO DIGNITY Ape in a bikini
JUMBO MISERY Elephant does tricks for tourists NO DIGNITY Ape in a bikini
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? REALITY Ape cowers on bare floor after fight
REALITY Ape cowers on bare floor after fight

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