Gorilla in Zoo Communicates Desire for Freedom
A moving PETA spot shows the encounter between a boy and a gorilla at the zoo. The great ape conveys his desire for freedom through sign language.
The spot, available from today on PETA Germany's online channels, depicts the remarkable encounter between a sensitive boy and an extraordinary gorilla at a zoo.
What begins as a typical day at the zoo changes dramatically when the two lock eyes. Using a world-famous song by the band Queen, the silverback powerfully shows the boy what he thinks of his captivity.
With the spot created by Swedish CGI specialists (Computer Generated Imagery) from FableFX, PETA reminds us that humanity's closest relatives — gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans — are still being kept imprisoned in zoos for entertainment purposes. Their captivity is comparable to the lifelong imprisonment of a human being. As part of the campaign “Great Apes Out of Zoos”, the animal rights organisation is calling for existing keeping arrangements to be phased out through a ban on breeding and imports. PETA also urges everyone never to support zoos and animal parks by purchasing an entrance ticket.
“The zoo captivity of great apes must end. Every living being has an inherent right to freedom. Locking our closest relatives in zoo enclosures is animal cruelty. An ape enclosure also contributes nothing to species conservation or to educating people about nature — at most, visitors learn how a behaviourally disturbed animal acts. This spot will hopefully prompt many people to reconsider how we treat animals.”
Peter Höffken, specialist adviser at PETA.
Animals sedated with psychotropic drugs due to immense suffering
The needs of gorillas are so complex that no zoo can provide them with a species-appropriate habitat. Studies show that animals in zoos frequently suffer from severe behavioral disorders. Their psychological suffering manifests through self-mutilation, extreme withdrawal, permanent rocking of the upper body back and forth, and even the consumption of their own excrement. In some cases, zoos even administer psychotropic drugs to wild animals just so they can endure lifelong captivity. The animal rights organization therefore appeals, through a petition to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), to phase out the keeping and display of these sensitive animals as quickly as possible.
PETA points out that more and more people are aware that captivity in zoos is fundamentally associated with suffering for the animals. According to an INSA opinion poll commissioned by the organization in April 2020, a relative majority of 41 percent of respondents support an end to the breeding and keeping of great apes in German zoos.
PETA advocates for genuine species protection
German zoos cannot point to any successful reintroductions of great apes into the wild — animals in captivity cannot, or can only with great difficulty, learn the behaviors necessary for survival in nature. Nevertheless, zoological institutions invest millions of euros in taxpayer money in expensive captive breeding programs and costly construction projects. Far more great apes could be protected through measures aimed at preserving the animals' natural habitat.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
