This undercover investigation was initiated following several reports that Monkey World had received regarding wild caught, endangered primates that had been smuggled for illegal trading in Thailand. Specifically, Monkey World was contacted by HM Customs and Excise to re-home a confiscated primate that one Raymond Humphries had smuggled from Bangkok to Britain. The gibbon (Hylobates gabriellae) had most likely originated in Vietnam and was smuggled into Bangkok and then onto Britain. Mr Humphries’ wildlife was confiscated, he was found guilty of illegal trading in protected species, and received a six-year jail sentence. At the same time a Thai national, Peera Jungthirapanich, was also found guilty and sentenced. Monkey World began an investigation into the illegal wildlife trade in Thailand.
Thailand 2001
The team of primate and wildlife experts from Monkey World and Pingtung Rescue Centre, Taiwan traveled to Bangkok, Chaing Mai, and Mae Sot to look in markets, wildlife parks, rescue centers, and roadside menageries.
At Chatuchak Sunday Market, Bangkok the team found many birds, reptiles, fish, and small mammals for sale. Many of the species should have been protected under CITES.
The market situation was so terrible and overwhelming that the team decided that they would need to return to conduct more in-depth investigations.
In Chaing Mai they went to the “Monkey Training School” where they found several dozen macaques, mostly pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), and two lar gibbons (Hylobates lar). The conditions for these animals were terrible. They were tied to posts and hardly able to move. Both of the species listed above are native to Thailand.
In Mae Sot, the team went to Highland Farm Gibbon Sanctuary. Here a couple were re-homing gibbons that had been taken from the wild that their illegal owners had grown tired of. Highland Farm is a good and honest institution that was not trading illegally. However, the number of gibbons they received, many of which were not native to Thailand, indicated that there is a large trade in illegal gibbons in Thailand.
While in the North-west, the team visited Wat Don Moun. Once again the monks at Wat Don Moun are good people that are not trading in wildlife, yet many people leave their illegal wild animals with them. At the temple the team found gibbons, macaques, binturong, wild boar, deer, porcupines, and birds of prey. The animals were kept in terrible conditions but the monks cared for them and gave the animals food and water. The number of animals at the temple once again indicated that the trade in wildlife in Thailand is out of control.
Thailand 2002
The Monkey World and Pingtung teams returned to Thailand to investigate further reports from wildlife parks in and around Bangkok.
The team went to Safari World and found more than a dozen (12+) orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and several chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) that were dressed up and made to perform a Thai boxing match. All these orangutans were juveniles and there were no adult orangutans found in the park.
If there are no adult orangutans at Safari World, where did all the young orangutans come from? Safari World staff were asked this question. The replied that there were no adult orangutans at the park. All the orangutans in the Safari World show were clearly smuggled from the wild.
After the boxing show the orangutans were taken to a public area where customers were allowed to have their photos taken with the orangutans. For the photos the orangutans were forced to “kiss” each person. From this type of contact with the public it is likely that the animals will catch tuberculosis from the people and then they will pass it on to other visitor that kiss them. This disease risk is very dangerous for both people and orangutans.
The team continued to look around the park where they found a private area where more primates were kept. In particular the team noted a concolor gibbon (Hylobates concolor ssp) in the distance.
The team next headed for Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo.
At Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm the team found at least 10 orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), 6 pileated gibbons (Hylobates pileatus), and 10 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The orangutans were all young animals and there were no adults in site. Two of the orangutans were being used for photography with the public and at least 8 more were found in a storage area behind the zoo where the team could see the captive orangutans reaching out from their cages. It was difficult to see into this area (by the adult chimps and gibbons) so there may have been many more orangutans than the team could count. With no adults to be found in the zoo, the orangutans at Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm must be smuggled from the wild.
The conditions for the animals at the crocodile farm were terrible. Chimpanzee cages were 3cm deep in algae and slime, the gibbons had their teeth knocked out so that many of them (of different species) could be kept together without biting each other, and all the cages were “cleaned” by throwing a bucket of disinfectant over the cowering animals. This is a cruel and indecent way to treat any animals – especially endangered species.
Finally the team went to check on the baby orangutans that were being forced to wear clothes and pose with tourists for photos. After the photo sessions the baby orangutans are chained inside small cages. The chains were so tight on one baby that his foot could not even touch the ground.
Thailand 2003
Experts from Monkey World and Pingtung Rescue Centre in Taiwan went to Chatuchak Market to see what was for sale. Again they found rows and rows of cages filled with South American macaws, African grey parrots, Asian pheasants, eclectus parrots, Egyptian tortoises, snakes, sugar gliders, lion fish, clown fish, etc, etc.
At one bird stall the team were offered 2 pairs of blue and gold macaws for US$1000 each. The pairs of parrots were kept in plastic boxes on shelves.
The team then met a shop keeper who was the owner of several stalls in Chatuchak market and a farm in Chaing Mai. This wild animal dealer had dozens of crowned pigeons (from Papua New Guinea), African grey parrots, and cockatoos for sale. Also for sale at one of his shops were two South American primates, a common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and red-handed tamarin (Saguinus midas).
The shop keeper said that he told the Thai government that he could breed his parrots up to 12 times per year and that all he had to do was show an official a single egg and all the birds would be registered as legal. It is not possible for parrots to lay eggs this frequently.
The shop owner was very clear that illegal orangutans could be obtained for 160,000 baht (US$4000).
The next animal dealer the team met was a Chinese Thai man that worked out of a stall in Chatuchak market. He was prepared to sell all different species of wild animal to the team. At the time of the meeting he had in his possession a clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), sun bear (Ursus malayanus), slow loris ( Nycticebus coucang) and two orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). All of these animals were offered to us for sale. The orangutans were for sale for 170,000 baht (US$4270) each. The dealer did suggest however, that if we were prepared to wait until after the CITES conference in Bangkok in 2004, the prices would be lower!
The dealer also said that he could get us more orangutans and as many golden-cheeked gibbons (Hylobates gabriellae) as we wanted.
Also at Chatuchak Market the team were offered slow loris (Nycticebus coucang) from a group of ladies that were in the middle of the ‘cat and dog’ section undercover. The ladies had several loris in small bags that they got out to show the investigators.
Next the team went on to Sriracha Tiger Zoo. At this park the team we surprised to find a “circus show” that had performing orangutans (2), chimpanzees (2), an Asiatic black bear, and a couple of tigers. The team started talking to the staff who admitted that the chimps had been smuggled from Africa, into the Philippines, and then into Thailand. They also stated categorically that the orangutans came directly from Indonesia.
The team was also shocked to see the physical condition of one of the chimpanzees. A chimpanzee, named Naree, had her incisors and canine teeth knocked out. Subsequently, the tissue in her mouth healed over and a severe infection had developed. Naree the chimpanzee now has huge, solid swellings across her face. The veterinarians at Sriracha showed the team some x-rays from the chimp. It is clear that if the chimp does not receive immediate specialised veterinary care, she will die.
Finally the team went to Safari World again. This time they went to the park and asked if they could see the orangutans being trained. The staff let the team into the training area where there were many young orangutans. A couple of orangutans were brought over for the investigators to meet while the others continued with their training.
At this point the assistant Curator came out and began to tell the investigators that Safari World had 41 orangutans and that there were not any adults that could be seen. He said that he was beginning training for a new show that would use many orangutans in an orchestra performance.
While wandering around Safari World, the team also found hundreds of macaws and up to a hundred crowned pigeons, a hundred eclectus parrots, and a hundred palm cockatoos. Clearly endangered wildlife from Papua New Guinea is entering Safari World with seemingly no restrictions.
