World’s worst zoo forces chimpanzee to ride a bike while spraying anti-coronavirus disinfectant

A HUMILIATED chimpanzee has been filmed riding around the world's most hated zoo on a bike while spraying anti-coronavirus sanitiser.

The animal was recorded at the controversial Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo near Bangkok, Thailand, where bosses used the chimp to promote the work they are doing during the pandemic.

Shocking footage shows the intelligent animal wearing a surgical face mask, denim shorts and an orange Hawaiian shirt while pedalling a children's bicycle with a tank strapped to the back spraying disinfectant.

Animal rights investigators have previously documented more serious accounts of abuse at the zoo last year including animals being beaten with bamboo sticks.

The Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo sparked outrage last December when footage emerged of a painfully thin elephant being forced to perform tricks for crowds.

Campaigners say that other "attractions" at the zoo include emaciated elephants being abused, bears rocking nervously back-and-forth while stuck in filthy pools and malnourished crocodiles.

Regarding the chimpanzee disinfecting the zoo, farm director Uthen Yangpraphakorn said they had to keep the place clean to be ready to re-open as soon as the government eases Covid-19 coronavirus restrictions.

Uthen said: "We have been closed since the government orders about the virus, so in the meantime, we do not have much to do.

"We clean the place two or three times a week in case the government will allow us to re-open, so we are ready to start accepting visitors again.

"The chimp was also trained in the farm so we just brought him out to let him stretch his limbs during this inactive period."

Thailand has so far declared 2,643 Covid-19 coronavirus cases and 43 deaths.

The country has enforced strict measures to combat the pandemic including closing zoos and other businesses, banning passenger flights, imposing curfews, sweeping travel bans and alcohol prohibition.

Since the zoo came to light over the past few years, campaigners have been trying their best to stop degrading practices like this in the zoo that has a history of animal abuse and have it closed down.

Responding to the video of the chimp, animal rights group PETA said the treatment was ''heartbreaking'' and described the zoo as a ''hell hole''.

Spokesman Nirali Shah said: ''Places like Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo are hellholes where animals like this chimpanzee endure miserable lives in captivity every single day.

''They are routinely mistreated and know little more than chains. When they're not used for human 'entertainment', they are held in cramped cages.''

Despite multiple attempts by PETA to contact Samutprakarn, the zoo's management has never responded.

PETA submitted the investigative findings to the Thai police and lodged an official complaint with authorities, urging them to inspect the zoo.

Animal rights groups have also pressured tour companies to stop taking holidaymakers to the enclosure just south of Bangkok.

Chinese firm Ctrip - Asia's biggest online booking agency that handles millions of holidaymakers a year - ditched the zoo in August 2019 and stopped selling tickets to the facility.

Yet despite mounting pressure the zoo continues to operate and animals are still held in appalling conditions.

Ref: The Sun