The director of the zoo where a British bonobo has been repeatedly beaten bloody by German apes has said that the park is just trying to “show what nature really looks like”.
The shocking footage of British-born bonobo Bili being attacked by the troop of aggressive German great apes at Wuppertal Zoo in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia made headlines around the world.
Video Credit: CEN/Andre P.
It was not even the first time that poor Bili was attacked by the German apes as on previous occasions they managed to bite off part of his ear.
But an unrepentant Wuppertal Zoo director Dr Arne Lawrenz said that people have a romanticised image of nature which makes them react angrily when confronted with violent episodes.
Dr Lawrenz said: “This is why there must be zoos, where we can show what nature really looks like.
“That is our mission and that’s why we, as zoos, might be at a crossroads here. For example, in the US there is a tendency to not exhibit bonobos because they are politically incorrect in terms of their sexual behaviour and aggression.
“I believe that zoos need to show people that nature is not all about peace, love and harmony, and that it’s also about rivalry and that the animals are subject to different laws to humans.”
Dr Lawrenz said that Bili is “rather good” at the moment despite “an external wound on his toe which is being treated”.
The zoo director is still trying to integrate Bili by letting him spend time with all the apes in the main enclosure as well as putting him with individual partners, separate from the troop.
Dr Lawrenz said: “In nature, it is the duty of a bonobo male to integrate into the group. They need social closeness and cannot live alone.”
Dr Lawrenz said that since Bili’s ordeal went viral around the world, some zoo employees have been “seriously threatened” which is why he had called the police and the public prosecutor’s office for protection.
According to animal welfare organisations, Bili has been severely traumatised since being sent to Wuppertal Zoo in autumn last year.
Animal lover Petra Bente launched a campaign to send Bili to the ‘Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre’ near Bovington in England that has now reached almost 300,000 signatures – but zoo bosses have refused to budge on the issue.
She said that Bili’s mother Maringa did not really care for him after he was born in October 2008 in Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, and as a result of not protecting him when he was growing up, he was flown to Frankfurt in January 2009.
Bili was adopted by loving female chimps in Frankfurt who have experience dealing with unwanted youngsters.
However, despite being happy and well integrated he was sent to Wuppertal Zoo on the recommendation of the Specialist Group of the European Zoological Community and the European Conservation Breeding Programme.
According to German media, the violence against Bili has not only drawn the ire of animal welfare groups, but also shocked zoo visitors who witnessed the great ape being attacked.
In one video, Bili is seen sitting on a raised platform in the enclosure of the pygmy chimpanzees as some other bonobos try to push him off.
Only when another bonobo violently pulls Bili’s arm does he fall down with the troop of bonobos then jumping on him and beating him up.
Bili tries to escape into a corner and protect his body from the blows by making himself as small as possible with his arms around his face.
The shocking footage of the attack was shared by netizen ‘Andre P’ who said that his understanding of zoo policy towards the British bonobo “melts like ice cream in the Sahara” as not a single zookeeper intervened.
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Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
