Thailand: Traumatized monkeys imprisoned and abused in the coconut industry
Monkeys running in circles on short chains, locked in cramped cages in the rain, and forced to climb trees while chained to pick coconuts in Thailand: all of this was documented by PETA Asia in their first undercover investigation into the abuse of monkeys in Thailand's coconut industry.
Monkeys running in circles on short chains, locked in cramped cages in the rain, and forced to climb trees while chained to pick coconuts in Thailand: all of this was documented by PETA Asia in their first undercover investigation into the abuse of monkeys in Thailand's coconut industry.
Some of the farms visited supply Aroy-D and Chaokoh – two brands that are also sold in German supermarkets, among other places.PETA Germany has informed numerous supermarkets, discount retailers, and drugstore chains about the abuses. The German companies contacted assure that no monkeys are used to harvest their coconut products, even though PETA Asia observed this on nearly all of the farms inspected. The animal rights organization is urging companies, due to the hidden exploitation of monkeys, to delist not only coconut products from these two brands but also other products containing coconut from Thailand, and to switch to suppliers from Brazil or Hawaii, who apparently use animal-friendly harvesting methods.
Highly intelligent animals exploited
«Monkeys are curious, highly intelligent animals who are robbed of their freedom and ruthlessly exploited for coconut harvesting. They have no opportunities for stimulation whatsoever, and even contact with members of their own species is denied to them,» says agricultural scientist Lisa Kainz, specialist adviser at PETA Germany. «PETA urges everyone not to buy products containing coconut from Thailand, because that coconut may have been harvested by an abused monkey.»
Undercover investigation exposes abuses
In July 2019, PETA Asia's eyewitnesses visited farms in Thailand four «monkey schools», eight farms and a coconut-picking competition. There, monkeys — reportedly captured illegally as babies in the wild, among other methods — were forced to pick coconuts for export around the world. In 2018, Germany alone imported almost 511 tonnes of Thai coconut. During the investigation, behavioural disorders were observed in the animals, indicating extreme stress. A tethered monkey was chewing on its own arm. A monkey tied to a rope desperately tried to run away, screaming in panic during training. Another, locked in a cage on the back of a vehicle, repeatedly rattled the cage bars — a desperate yet futile attempt to escape. Monkeys were chained to old car tyres near rubbish or locked in cages barely larger than themselves. Such practices represent a massive animal welfare problem.
