Help Shut Down Cruel ‘Monkey Island’ Attraction That Abuses Animals in the Name of Conservation

We urgently need your help to speak up for animals! You may have heard about the blockbuster movie Kong: Skull Island. The movie is a massive hit – and it was filmed in Vietnam, using CGI techniques to create the star – a giant gorilla, and no animals were hurt during production. Due to the success, Vietnam’s government even suggested they would erect a statue in Kong’s honor in Hanoi.

But while the scenery in the movie may be beautiful, the country’s real-life Monkey Island animal circus is a nightmare for the animals who are forced to perform there. A recent Animals Asia investigation shows the true horror of Monkey Island…

Monkey Island is located in a UNESCO-accredited national park, Can Gio Bioreserve. At the facility, monkeys are forced to ride bikes. According to Animals Asia, keeping intelligent, social animals like macaques in this kind of limited environment can lead to lower life expectancy. This is NOT okay!

Not only that, but the park forces dogs to jump through flaming hoops. We need your help to shut down Monkey Island! Sign this petition and share with your friends.

Despite being tasked with protecting the area, and educating the domestic and international tourists who flock to the pristine beauty, the Can Gio management board has chosen to host an animal circus on the reserve.

Animals Asia informed UNESCO’s Vietnam office about the reserve’s animal performance and the office wrote a reply in November 2016 stating, “The use of animals in circus performances with physical and mental abusive acts should not happen anywhere. This was a violation of bio-ethics and eco-ethics, and was unacceptable, especially at a biosphere that was accredited by UNESCO, and should be completely shut down.” But now six months later, the Monkey Island animal circus continues at the Can Gio Bioreserve.

Animals Asia even contacted Can Gio Bioreserve on the issue and received a reply from the Cu Chi Historical Tunnel Complex, the agency which manages Monkey Island: “Through the performances, we are sending the public a message that they should respect nature and animals, and that animals are friendly to humans.” But it’s clear Monkey Island is not educational and is instead exploiting animals by humiliatingly dressing them up and forcing them to do unnatural trucks.

As Animals Asia states, “in order to carry out the unnatural tricks seen in a circus show, an animal usually must first suffer physical abuse – often with the use of whips, metal bars, and bull hooks.” As seen in the performances at Monkey Island, the animals repeatedly try to escape the ringmasters who pull them into position using the metal chains which are constantly tied around their necks.

Join us in signing this Animals Asia petition to urge Can Gio and UNESCO to end this cruel abuse of animals immediately! Please forward this post to everyone you know and urge them to do the same. Together, we can make a difference.

Image Source: Animals Asia/Flickr