05 January 2023 , 17:54
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Thailand’s only surviving gorilla Bua Noi dubbed the 'world’s loneliest gorilla ' is doomed to life in captivity as activists’ attempts to free her during her 30-year confinement remain in vain.
The gorilla is one of hundreds of monkeys, birds and reptiles in the privately-run Pata Zoo, situated on the roof of an old Bangkok mall.
Her enclosure was surrounded by concrete, bars and thick glass, with only a few ropes and car tire for distraction in what has been referred to as the “horror zoo”.
A number of animal rights activists and celebrities such as pop icon Cher have campaigned for Bua Noi to be resettled in an environment where she can spend the last year of her life in dignity, while more than 117,000 people have so far signed a petition on Change.org.
“A life of boredom and loneliness is the cruellest fate of all for our primate cousins,” the petition says.
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The owners of Pata Zoo have claimed Bua Noi was too old to adjust to a new environment and was being well cared for (Daily Mirror)Cher has also previously tweeted: “This man is making [money] off suffering of these poor trapped animals.
“I need to join with animal rights activists and kind people of Bangkok.”
She was moved to the shopping centre from Germany aged one and has been imprisoned ever since.
However, in autumn, the Thai Environment Ministry said the gorilla’s owners wanted 30 million Thai baht (£739,666) for her release before the zoo denied the money request on its Facebook page.
Bua Noi pictured in in her enclosure at Pata Zoo in Bangkok (Daily Mirror)The owners claimed Bua Noi was too old to adjust to a new environment and was being well cared for.
Daniel Merdes, head of the NGO Borneo Orangutan Survival Germany, has long campaigned for the liberation of all animals from the zoo, especially the equally tormented orangutans and many other primates like lemurs and macaques.
He believed the only solution, given her age, was to take Bua Noi to be taken to a sanctuary in Thailand - claiming “another long traumatising journey” would be “life-threatening or animal cruelty”.
Dutchman Edwin Wiek, the founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation in Thailand, has offered to take her into his care.
Mr Wiek, who has for many years run a nature sanctuary in Phetchaburi, about 200 kilometres from Bangkok, said he did not believe it would be “morally right” to pay a large sum of money for Bua Noi.
He went on to claim that he wanted to reach a deal for all of the animals in the zoo, “or at least the primates”.
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However, the owners of Pata Zoo did not seem interested and said the gorilla was fine.
Thailand’s Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa appeared also to draw a line on the matter, saying the zoo had “promised to take care” of the animals and the owner “had the right to do so.