Shocking images and video footage has revealed one of the world’s saddest zoos, where animals are held captive on the highest floor of a shopping centre in Bangkok.
The disturbing video shows a distressed-looking gorilla rolling around his tiny enclosure, a big cat pacing up and down a small space and sheep crammed into a fenced area much too small for them.
Other heartbreaking pictures show a fed-up Hornbill who should be flying above Africa, a ferret curled up in the corner of its cage not touching its food, and a white monkey who seems to be pleading for help.
Worse still, the zoo is in a dilapidated condition and in need of urgent repair.
Bua Noi – meaning little lotus in Thai – has been in Pata Zoo since 1983. She is enclosed on the sixth floor and has not set foot outside since then
A Hornbill, who ought to have a brightly coloured beak and which should be flying through the skies of tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia
This white monkey seems to be pleading for help, while other photos show the dilapidated nature of the zoo
The distressing footage and photographs were taken at Pata Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand by freelance journalist Julian King last month.
‘On the highest floor of a shopping mall these animals are held captive for over 30 years living in horrible conditions,’ he said.
‘Bua Noi (the gorilla) – meaning little lotus in Thai – has been living a nightmare since 1983. She is enclosed on the sixth floor and has never set foot outside since then.
‘Animal protection laws are practically non-existent in Thailand, and those that do exist are extremely vague, making them difficult to enforce.’
Orangutans share over 96 percent DNA with humans and experience the same boredom and depression that we would in such conditions
Bua Noi was captured from the wild when she was just a baby, and she’s lived in a barred cage by herself ever since. While there have been previous efforts to rescue Bua Noi and transfer her to a sanctuary, she’s sadly still there
A big cat pacing up and down a small space. Zoo director Kanit Sermsirimongkol told Bangkok Magazine he does not sympathise with animal activists
Sheep are held in bare, cramped pens – a far cry from their preferred habitats of grassland or spacious mountain plains
The animals are kept in extremely cramped conditions, with no access to sunlight. They are also subjected to intense heat and exhaust fumes from the busy streets below
Bua Noi was captured from the wild when she was just a baby, and she’s lived in a barred cage by herself ever since.
There have been previous efforts to rescue Bua Noi and transfer her to a sanctuary.
In March 2015, media outlets reported that the Thai authorities had found that the zoo did not comply with regulations and ordered the owners to remove the gorilla and other large animals including tigers, leopards, monkeys and apes.
It is unclear whether this order was retracted or had not in fact been given at all, but three years later Bua Noi is sadly still there.
This wouldn’t be the first time Pata Zoo has received negative press for its mistreatment of animals, so it may come as a surprise that the zoo remains open.
When Wildlife photographer Aaron Gekoski visited Pata Zoo in February, he told The Dodo: ‘[It] was a sobering experience.
‘In the wild, orangutans are generally solitary animals and spend very little time on the ground. They even build nests and sleep high up in the canopy. So to see them acting this way is completely unnatural behavior.
‘It was a very dark, dirty and depressing place to visit and felt a little postapocalyptic.
Orangutans are one of the many animals kept at Pata Zoo that are forced to live very differently from how they usually would in the wild
The video taken by journalist Julian King last month shows the full extent of the depressing and empty enclosures at Pata Zoo
‘Orangutans share over 96 percent DNA with us and possess many human emotions — they seemed incredibly bored and depressed, as did the chimp. One of the enclosures was so dirty you could barely make out there was a chimpanzee inside.
‘The gorilla just sat there tearing up pieces of paper and drinking from a plastic bottle.
‘There are some bars and chains for the apes to swing on and the gorilla had a tire to play in,’ Gekoski added,
‘Other than that, there is very little enrichment and stimulation for them. This is one of the biggest problems with captivity — it takes an animal’s choices away.’
Only a handful of tourists passed through during his visit, but their behaviour was not being monitored by the staff.
‘I even saw one man pulling and playing with an orangutan’s lip,’ Gekoski said.
A petition to free all the animals in the zoo has more than 95,000 signatures – but it was started nearly four years ago.
The gorilla at the bars of her cage. The zoo director claims the floor for Bua Noi’s enclosure is concrete because soil in Southeast Asia can absorb bacteria and generate the infection known as soilborne melioidosis, which is fatal to gorillas
A ferret curls up in the corner of its depressing cage, not touching its food. Ferrets, like cats, are obligate carnivores (meat eaters) but this one’s diet seems to made up mostly of potatoes
Porcupines likes to inhabit forests and grasslands, but at Pata Zoo they are kept in a bare stone enclosure
Meanwhile, the animals remain in extremely cramped conditions, with no access to sunlight. They are also subjected to intense heat and exhaust fumes from the busy streets below.
In 2014, Thailand even introduced an animal welfare law that technically protects animals against this kind of facility – but it isn’t always enforced.
Around the same time, Pata Zoo’s license was renewed despite huge criticism and efforts to shut it down.
The zoo is in an extremely dilapidated state. Although a petition to free all the animals in the zoo has more than 95,000 signatures, it was started nearly four years ago and the zoo is still open
The zoo is on the top floor of a Bangkok shopping centre and is in a state of disrepair. Its director even said ‘running a zoo is not the kind of business that gives huge profits every year’
Its director Kanit Sermsirimongkol told Bangkok Magazine in 2015 that he does not sympathise with activists.
‘We call them lok-suay (blind optimists); people whose single-mindedness thinks that animals should not be kept in enclosures,’ he said.
‘The gorilla looks sad because it is how she looks. They saw the picture of her on the internet and assume she’s depressed.
‘Our rooftop zoo is not a problem. Before opening, we only selected animals that were suitable for a rooftop zoo; we consulted zoologists and veterinarians about which species we could possibly raise under these conditions.
‘They have been treated well. The enclosures are kept clean by our staff.’
In 2014, Thailand introduced an animal welfare law that technically protects animals against this kind of facility – but it has not always been enforced
Despite the ongoing challenges of helping animals in Thailand, animal welfare advocates are still hoping that Pata Zoo will eventually close down.
‘The Pata Zoo is a disgrace for all legitimate zoos in Thailand,’ Edwin Wiek, director and founder of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, previously said in an interview.
‘The animal welfare and safety at Pata Zoo are way below even Thailand’s standards. Historically, the zoo was founded by a notorious wildlife trader and this facility does not fit in the world of 2018.
‘We can’t wait for authorities to finally close it down.’