The wonders of the natural world are truly endless, from the majesty of a herd of elephants grazing in the plains of the Savanna, to the breach of an enormous blue whale. They also include, as seen in the clip above, an orangutan taking a minute out of his busy day to enjoy a smooth, low-tar filtered cigarette.
The clip, uploaded by Marison Guciano, the founder of the Indonesia Animal Welfare Society, comes from the Bandung Zoo and shows a man throwing a lit cigarette into the orangutan enclosure. The orangutan, clearly no stranger to bold, rich flavors, picks up the cigarette and takes a drag, transporting him instantly to where the flavor is.
According to the BBC, the orangutan in the video is a Bornean orangutan named Odon. Odon is 22-years-old, although there is no legal limit on smoking age in Indonesia.
Of course, animal welfare advocates are understandably mad about this. Obviously this does not appear to be the first time Odon has had a cigarette, smoking is extremely bad for you, and no one should do it regardless of what ape species they are. The video has prompted continued calls to have the zoo shut down, which first began due to a previous incident at the zoo in which bears were seen looking emaciated. That incident lead to a petition that has been signed by nearly one million people. Attempting to defend itself, the zoo claims that a guard had most likely stepped away from his post, and also pointed to signage specifically telling people not to give animals cigarettes.
The fact that a zoo needs a sign to tell people not to let the animals bum smokes is probably a decent indication that it is not a very good zoo. Furthermore, there’s probably a debate to be had as to whether any zoo can exist in the 21st century as an ethical, moral entity, or if those efforts would be better put towards conservation and protection of animals in their natural habitats.
Whether or not Odon looks like a cool dude you might meet shooting a couple of games down at the pool hall, though? That’s less of a debate.
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