Featured Image Credit: Video Screenshot
By Laura O’Brien
After multiple videos of poor conditions for zoo animals in Indonesia have gone viral, a growing number of activists and social media users have called for stricter animal rights legislation and enforcement in Indonesian zoos. One of the most recent videos shows a man throwing a lit cigarette to an orangutan, which then began to smoke it.
Despite the positive changes, unimaginable animal suffering still occurs as a result of human practices in Indonesian zoos, and further legislation is necessary to put an end to the cruelty. Dolphins are still used in traveling circuses which force the dolphins to lay outside of water, where they struggle for breath, as other animals perform. Then, they are strapped into what Animal Asia describes as “coffin-sized” boxes in order to fly the cetaceans from one location to another. The dolphins are often subjected to unsanitary living spaces, which can cause infection and illness. With disturbing videos still coming out of Indonesian zoos and markets, animal rights activists are continuing to push for more exposure and better laws regarding animal welfare.
Learn more from our sources, https://www.independent.co.uk/video/News/orangutan-filmed-smoking-cigarette-indonesia-bandung-death-zoo-visitor-watch-video-a8249286.html , http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38660277 , and https://www.animalsasia.org/us/media/news/news-archive/an-animal-welfare-awakening-is-changing-indonesia-forever.html