Viral Video of Orangutan Smoking Cigarette at Zoo Sparks Outrage – Here’s What You Can Do

Zoos have become notorious for their exploitation and mistreatment of animals, but some zoos are worse than others. Bandung Zoo, located about 75 miles from Jakarta, Indonesia, has been under fire for many Animal rights violations in recent years. A Sumatran elephant was found dead covered in bruises in 2016, prompting the zoo to be forced to temporarily shut down. In 2017, a group of severely malnourished and starving sun bears were also seen begging for scraps of food from visitors, a behavior not at all typical of bears. And now, a viral video of a 22-year-old male orangutan smoking a cigarette at Bandung Zoo has sparked a public outrage.

The video shows an adult male visitor toss a half-smoked cigarette into the orangutan’s enclosure. The orangutan named Ozon proceeds to pick it up and smoke it as onlookers laugh. No zoo personnel is seen in the video to intervene. You can watch the video below:

Marison Guciano, the founder of the Indonesia Animal Welfare Society, shared the video, stating, “Visitors do not know how to deal with animals, but the lack of supervision by zoo management is equally lacking, and is one of the issues which must be addressed. Indonesia desperately needs animal welfare standards in its zoos.”

A petition has been set up to get Bandung Zoo to officially shut down. You can sign the petition here.

Most people are still unaware of all the serious problems surrounding zoos. From their ties to the illegal wildlife trade, irresponsible breeding practices that lead to them killing “surplus” animals, to the gross mistreatment and neglect present at facilities like Bandung Zoo, zoos are not happy places for animals. PLEASE make sure you never buy tickets to zoos like these and make sure you share this with your network to spread awareness of the serious problems with zoos!

Image Source: Marison Guciano/Facebook