ZOOKEEPERS IN Indonesia have had to move an orangutan out of visitors’ reach in an effort to break her smoking habit.
Tori learned to smoke 10 years ago by imitating visitors, who threw cigarette butts into her open cage. She has been smoking ever since, holding up two fingers to her mouth to indicate she wants a cigarette and becoming angry and throwing things if none is available, said activists. Keepers at Taru Jurug zoo in Solo have unsuccessfully tried luring the ape away with food and extinguishing the butts with water.
Now the zoo, backed by the Borneo-based Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), plans to move the primate and her partner to a small island on the site. They hope the large trees, rope swings and views over the zoo will make Tori forget about her nicotine fix. Until then, volunteers are guarding the cage and mesh netting will be installed to stop visitors throwing in butts.
Tori’s parents also smoked and many more orangutans in Indonesian zoos are thought to be hooked, said Hardi Baktiantoro of COP. The apes’ 97 per cent genetic similarity to humans means they often mimic our behaviour. “It is very common,” he said. “People will throw cigarettes in, watch her smoke, start laughing and take pictures.”
Tori’s partner, Didik, who is new to the zoo, stamps out butts thrown into the cage. Indonesia’s zoos have been criticised for their conditions: a giraffe was recently found dead with an 18kg ball of plastic in its stomach after years of eating visitors’ litter. – (Guardian service)