‘World’s Saddest Zoo’ On Top of Thai Mall Sparks Outrage on Social Media
Footage recorded from the inside of a zoo located on the top of floor of a mall in Thailand has shocked and outraged social media users.
Pata Zoo, located inside a shopping center in Bangkok’s Thonburi district, has long been the subject of controversy over the treatment and living conditions it provides to the animals.
The animals on display in the recent footage add to those concerns, showing a gorilla in distress and living in a severely cramped enclosure. The gorilla has been living in the zoo for over 30 years.
The video also shows monkeys, vultures, wild cats, and other animals living in decrepit concrete cages with almost no greenery around—eerily similar to a prison.
In Thailand, animal protection laws are either non-existent or extremely vague and unenforced.
The Thai government did pass a more stringent law in 2014 to fight these kinds of zoos but nothing has yet to be done in the Pata Zoo’s case.
“The animal welfare and safety at Pata Zoo are way below even Thailand’s standards,” said Edwin Wiek, director of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. “Historically, the zoo was founded by a notorious wildlife trader and this facility does not fit in the world of 2018. We can’t wait for the authorities to finally close it down”
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