This footage shows a monkey being forced to lift weights, do sit-ups and ride a bike for tourists’ pleasure in Thailand.
The footage has been released by animal rights group PETA Asia and was reportedly recorded in Phuket in Thailand’s Phuket Province where a monkey named Ning Nong was forced to perform tricks for tourists.
In the video, the money can be seen standing on its hind legs on a metal lead and it lifts a mini barbell complete with weights above its head as its trainer counts in English.
Video Credit: AsiaWire / PETA Asia
The monkey can then be seen doing sit ups and playing basketball on the trainers’ commands before it is seen riding a bicycle around the performance area.
The monkey can be seen in a small cage before a ball is thrown at it which it fails to catch. The poor animal can also be seen performing push-ups at the trainer counts aloud.
PETA Asia claims the teeth of monkeys used in shows are often removed to render them incapable of defending themselves.
The group says baby monkeys are often snatched from their mothers shortly after birth—a trauma from which neither they nor their mothers ever fully recover—and they are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them.
PETA Senior Vice President of International Campaigns Jason Baker comments: “Videos like the one we’ve just released are helping to change public opinion. Forcing wild animals to perform is no longer the way to draw a crowd, but there’s still much work to be done.
“All travel companies need to stop promoting cruel shows and zoos, and tourists should stop buying tickets to them, opting instead to see animals in their natural habitats—the only place where they belong.”
Companies such as Airbnb and TripAdvisor are reportedly in the process of banning direct-contact activities that abuse and exploit wild animals.
PETA says that nobody monitors living conditions, pre-production training sessions, maternal separation, or what happens to animals when they are no longer used by the entertainment industry.
Ning Nong is treated like a money-making toy being forced to perform meaningless tricks for tourists 
Ning Nong is treated like a money-making toy being forced to perform meaningless tricks for tourists
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Buli Liang, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
LadBible – DailyStar – Express – Mirror – The Sun
