Animal lovers have criticised a show where monkeys are being forced to wear dresses and make up as they jump through hoops at a Thailand zoo.
Distressing footage shows the intelligent creatures spinning a flaming stick and pretending to sing at Chang Puak Camp in Ratchaburi, in what has described by activists as a ‘humiliating gimmicky animal act’.
Animal rights group PETA is now calling on travel companies to cut ties with the degrading shows, adding that many of the monkeys have had their teeth removed to make them ‘compliant’.
You can watch the uncomfortable act here:
The clip starts with a monkey in a gold dress who is forced to jump through a spiked hoop, before spinning a ball and showing off its makeup to the audience.
Another monkey can then be seen wearing shorts with a rope around its neck as it jumps in the air in a desperate bid to escape.
The beautiful animals are also shown shaking hands with children in the audience, playing guitar and sitting with crossed legs pretending to write a text message.
Senior vice president of PETA’s international campaigns Jason Baker has warned of how circus trainers are said to ‘break monkey’s spirits using violent methods that rely on fear of punishment’ to get them to perform.
He said:
Monkeys don’t choose to walk on their hind legs, wear clothes, ride bikes, or perform other meaningless and humiliating tricks – they’ve simply learned to fear what will happen if they don’t.
They force the animals into a lifetime of slavery.
The charity says animals are more often than not snatched from their mothers at birth and completely deprived of the natural surroundings they should live in.
Thailand is, of course, a hugely popular tourist destination, but it has been widely criticised for its ‘barbaric’ treatment of animals in the name of providing ‘entertainment’ for tourists.
Baker added:
Public opinion has changed, and forcing wild animals to perform is no longer the way to draw a crowd, but there’s still much work to do.
All travel companies need to stop promoting cruel shows and zoos, and tourists must stop buying tickets to them, opting instead to see animals in their natural habitats – the only place where they belong.
Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end for the horrendous treatment of these incredible animals.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.