See These Wild Orangutans Smoking Cigarettes in Southeast Asian Zoos
- Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:55pm by
Billy Hallowell
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INDONESIA, Jakarta (The Blaze/AP) — Orangutans are often said to be similar human beings in their actions. New reports appear to indicate that these mammals enjoy smoking cigarettes as much as some people do.
Over the years, critics have taken aim at Southeast Asian zoos and their willingness to allow the animals to use and abuse tobacco. One wildlife activist is claiming that zoo officials in Indonesia are taking no steps to stop orangutans from smoking cigarettes.
Visitors to the Taru Jurug Zoo in Solo, a city on Java island, have been giving cigarettes to the endangered red apes for years. One young male was captured on video shortly before his death in 2009 smoking with his 5-year-old son.
Hardi Baktiantoro, director of the Center for Orangutan Protection, said Friday the youngster can still be seen puffing away at the zoo today as keepers look on.
While some may find such a prospect entertaining in theory, one shouldn’t underestimate the health risks involved in the use of the drug among these animals. Plus, many would contend that distributing cigarettes constitutes a form of animal abuse.
In Malaysia, the situation has been handled much differently. According to the Associated Press, wildlife officials are saying that a captive orangutan often spotted smoking cigarettes given to her by zoo visitors is being forced to kick the habit.
Government authorities seized the adult ape named Shirley from a state-run zoo in Malaysia’s southern Johor state last week after she and several other animals there were deemed to be living in poor conditions.
Shirley is now being quarantined at another zoo in a neighboring state and is expected to be sent to a Malaysian wildlife center on Borneo island within weeks.
Melaka Zoo Director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said Shirley is not being provided with any more cigarettes because “smoking is not normal behavior for orangutans.” Below, watch the orangutang puffing away:
“I would say she is not addicted … but she might have formed a habit after mimicking human beings who were smoking around her,” Ahmad told The Associated Press.
Shirley was so far displaying a regular appetite for food and no obvious signs of depression or illness, Ahmad said. Results from her blood tests and other detailed health examinations were not yet available.
Nature Alert, a British-based activist group, wrote to Malaysian officials about Shirley earlier this year, saying conservationists who visited the Johor zoo often saw people throwing lit cigarettes to her in a pit-like enclosure.
The group said Shirley seemed to suffer severe mood swings, sometimes looking drowsy and on other occasions appearing “very agitated” without a cigarette.
Authorities last week also reportedly seized a tiger and a baby elephant that was kept chained at the Johor zoo.
It is not clear when Shirley started smoking. Officials have estimated she is around 20 years old. Orangutans, which are native to rainforests in Borneo and Indonesia’s Sumatra island, can live up to about 60 years in captivity.
Other countries such as South Africa and Russia have also reported cases of primates learning to smoke after zoo visitors ignored warnings and tossed cigarettes into the cages of chimpanzees. Below, we’ll leave you with footage of an orangutang who, when thrown a lit cigarette, apparently said “no”:
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Comments (100)
ZengaPA65
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 3:17amApparently it IS normal behavior.
Report Post »PA PATRIOT
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 6:30am“Wild orangutans” in a zoo
Is that not an oxymoron,…..moron?
Report Post »ZengaPA65
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 9:41amAgreed, you referring to anyone else as a moron is an oxymoron. Great example, keep up the good work Pops.
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 1:22pmIt blows my mind. Does that mean they have a soul? Does it mean we don’t? If they think just like us[and smoking shows they do]then do they need salvation/ Did Jesus die for them too ? Or the worse thought possible- is all religion wishful thinking? Where is God in all this?The audience was laughing-the last thing i fee like doing is laughing over this mindblowing -what does it say about our humanityand their animality?
Report Post »PA PATRIOT
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 3:32pmHey Pops,
Report Post »How about “Baby Giant” or Acting Naturally ”
Keep smoking it.
teamarcheson
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 6:08pmThis is how Indians hooked Europeans on tobacco. Now we will be able to get monkeys to work for us so they can earn money to buy cigarettes they will now need. The report did no say what brand they like. This is wonderful news.
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 9:40pmI failed to read the title, and just looked at the pic. I thought the article was about nancy pelosi smoking.
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 2:40amThe Blaze
Report Post »WeeDontNeedNoSteenkeenBadges
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 1:32amhttp://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u25/ObamaSmoking.jpg
Just sayin’ … LOL :D
Report Post »clawless
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 2:30amThose are Obama voters in chicago.
Report Post »squeaker
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 2:40amthe zoo has an African Lion……. and the whitehouse has a Lying African… lol
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 3:36amSQUEAKER,,,,,,Now that is funny. I will have to use that. Thanks for the laugh.,
Report Post »Talmid of Yeshua
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 6:41amLOL! Orangutan in Chief.
Report Post »ddg7
Posted on September 18, 2011 at 6:10pm@Squeaker….Your comment lol funny!
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 1:19amKinda reminds me of BO!!!…
Report Post »Your Name Here
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 8:23amMy thought exactly.
Report Post »I saw Barack sitting there somking but I didn’t see his monkey mate eating french fries.
freedommonger
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:59pmWonder if they can play golf, too?
Report Post »billrow
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:51amGive em glocks
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 1:10amYeah right. As usual I see people are missing the point of the story as with other stories. First you have to ask: why are they wasting my time with this stupid story? Why has it made the news? Here’s why: because if they have to save the monkeys from smoking, and maybe get people in trouble for providing monkeys with cigarettes, then all the more reason to save people from cigarettes. It begins to solidify the idea in the mind of the public; “Breaks the ice” so to speak. Or we can just speak ignorantly about the news of the day no matter what we hear or see, “Maybe they just like smoking….dude.”
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 8:12amIf you felt your time was wasted with this story, why did you read it? My computer doesn’t automatically access each article, I read the ones I want to.
Report Post »rightwinglefty
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:35amMonkey see… monkey do.
Report Post »teapartyconservatism
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 11:39pmCancer cures smoking.
Report Post »By the way, “Obama is Not an Eligible Natural Born Citizen,” http://teapartyconservatism.blogspot.com/
lylejk
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 11:20pmI’m not going to go on the anti-smoking campaign, but obviously such a non-natural thing as breathing in smoke by an animal and then the animal continues to want more suggests that something in cigarettes is beyond habit forming. Sad that this animal’s going to have to experience servere cold turkey; no telling how long it was smoking cigarettes. The idiotic zoo caretakers have at least lost their jobs I hope. :)
Report Post »Talmid of Yeshua
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 6:44amWah.. cry me a river. If the ape wants to smoke, let it smoke. I thought you liberals believe in freedom of choice? Oh yeah, that only applies to aborting babies.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 8:07amUm, not so fast.
These animals MAY simply find the cigarettes “enjoyable”.
Animals do have emotions (just look at the family dog).
So, attributing a continuation of smoking to “addictiveness” is a premature judgement/conclusion.
I’m not saying it is strictly pleasure, but, I am saying this would, by no means, be considered a scientific study.
I think it is unnatural for them to smoke, so I wouldn’t give them cigarettes.
FORTUNATELY, HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT WILD ANIMALS, and we have the ability to make an informed DECISION over what we put into our bodies.
UNFORTUNATELY, our government thinks it needs to make those decisions for us…
unless it is something they, themselves enjoy or profit from, like prescription drugs, like alcohol or like marijuana.
What a bunch of self-serving hypocrites we have ruling over us.
Report Post ».
.
.
mr.goodvibe
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 9:59amCiagarettes are a addictive! who da thunk it.
Report Post »lylejk
Posted on September 18, 2011 at 10:51amDon’t get me wrong. I’m against the government telling me what to do. It’s our bodies. Cigarettes are so outradgeously priced now that I’m sure a black market is happening by now. They are already talking about so called sin taxes for eateries like McDonalds which is rediculous. Pretty tired of the government trying to tell me what to do. They spend more money trying to get people to live healthy and longer rather then trying to create the conditions where the private sector can create jobs.
Anyway, as a side note, I got emailed this one and thought it was just too funny not to share. It would help our government get out of dept too; might even work. lol
:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mizl_YxoAko
Report Post »Kiwon
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 11:14pmEvolutionists got nothing to be upset about. Just one species helping the other up the ladder.
Report Post »LibertarianForLife
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:39amAs Thomas Jefferson would say, “The greatest fear of any priest is that of increased knowledge and advancement of society.” Just take a second to look at your nonsensical religion, if you have anything operating above your neck, you’d understand.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:45pmLooking at this monkey imitating it’s captive I find to be funny in a cute way… that is how I feel about it.
On an intellectual level this is abuse of a captive animal; therefore distressing. A poor example of stewardship of this planet.
I smoke (40yrs) and I do not blow smoke in my dogs face….it is irresponsible ass her caretaker.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:47pmirresponsible as
Report Post »( although some think of me as an ass {wife } from time to time)
Harvickfan29
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:17pm“That’s funny right there, I don’t care who you are. If you can’t laugh at that you can just get the Hell outta here.”
Report Post »Eff the Poor
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:13pmFinally the New Black Panther party is doing something useful with their free time…
SacredHonor1776
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:56pmYou are just as bad as the Black Panthers… Troll…
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:11pmMaybe we should put pictures of dead orangutans on the cigarette packs.
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:18pmoutstanding! :)
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:54pmI hate Zoo’s when animals are mistreated.This is very obviously mistreatment of an animal,I don’t care what anybody says.Its so unnatural.Its wrong.Flipping cigarettes at any animal.
NO SMOKING in Zoo’s or in animal refuges.ever.
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 2:23pmThey really appear to be enjoying it-unless they get sick from it i don‘t think it’s abusive but the opposite. Just like in humans smoking, though bad for circulation and lungs- actually promotes cognitive abilities.[smoking while cramming for a test back when I smoked actually helped me learn.]As it does everyone.People with parkinsons’ are helped by it too.Helps with neural synapse connections. Though the scientists know this they don’t “advertise” the fact. Maybe it COULD make apes smarter. [They certainly look smarter when smoking--like they're actually thinking about the fact that they're enjoying the cigarette. Very human in their demeanor[body language].
Report Post »last straw
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:40pmI bet it’s a menthol brand, ya knows what I mean? Bring out the Colt45!
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:38pmMonkey see Monkey do.
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:32pmAfter a hard day at the zoo,being stared at,teased,and people gawking at you all day long,a good Marlboro at the end of the day is relaxing.:)
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:41pmWait a minute, Wild Orangutans…in the zoo?
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:17pmEver seen a Polar Bear on a 95 degree day in the city?Same thing.
Report Post »Marnin
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:31pmHow wild are they if they are working on a pack a day habit? They have to get more smokes somehow!
Report Post »Lucy Larue
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 6:38pmMARNIN,
Report Post »It really is not funny. It is sad.
Why wouldn’t they smoke?
They do the same thing that our prison populations do to alleviate the boredom of captivity.
The difference is that the Orangutan is innocent of any wrongdoing.
MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:15pmNicotene is very addictive but actually harmless physically.Its all the other added chemicals that make cigs harmful.Shirley is doing what she likes to do.Have a cigarette.But people FLIP them at her,lighted.She can’t light them herself and thats what makes this video so unnatural.It should UNLAWFUL to do this.
She’s a cutie in any case.
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:28pm*should be unlawful
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:30pmis that better than the 4yr kid smoking ?
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:43pmNo.But 4 year olds are’nt mothers either.
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:07pmWOW……the orangutans have evolved to smoking! Can we elect one of them for our next prez? Dang….not born here. We’re screwed.
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:07pmI don’t know why this popped into my head, but does anyone know if we‘re still paying for Obama’s cancer sticks?
Report Post »T-BagginLiberalsinDamouth
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:04pmI know someone at the white house that smokes.
Report Post »hersey10
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:03pmReminds me of that little Asian kid that was smoking like 5 packs a day at 3 years old .
Report Post »MichaelMs
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:56pmHA HA HA HA Cough Cough Ha ha ha
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:39pmFunny enough to read twice!
Report Post »Lucy Larue
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 6:42pmMICHAELMS and EXREPUBLISHEEP,
As children did you torture and murder defenseless animals?
Report Post »I’d bet odds on YES you did.
You’re both idiots!
MichaelMs
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:56pmHA HA HA HA HA HA HA Cough cough HA HA HA HA
Report Post »