Are We Ignorant or Callous?

Today humans are not only killing, consuming and using animals for entertainment but they are also compelling them to work like slaves. This blog talks about one of the most intelligent animals being enslaved by human beings for their rapacious needs. In the past, many nations have been enslaved by other nations and we know how it feels when someone else is the master of our mind and body but do we realize when we do the same thing with other animals. Would we prefer to stay with our families or be forcefully separated from them to work in a foreign land in squalid conditions? Then why are we subjecting these intelligent animals to the same? Are we ignorant or callous?

Its ludicrous that many people plan to be a vegan and stop the consumption of milk so that they are not supporting animal cruelty in any way possible and shift to coconut milk but majority of the population does not know how coconut milk also promotes animal cruelty. Thailand is the world’s third largest coconut exporter after Indonesia and Philippines. The coconut industry in Thailand uses monkey labour to pick coconuts high up from the trees. The monkeys are forcefully trained in monkey training schools where they are taught how to pick coconuts high up from the trees.

The popularity of coconut milk has grown drastically in the past 5 to 6 years and is expected to double in the next 5 years. But after the truth was revealed many retailers of coconut based products have announced that they would no longer stock products from companies using and encouraging monkey labour.

It all starts when young pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) are illegally abducted from their families in the wild and used in the coconut farms. As they grow up, their canines are removed to ensure that they cannot attack the owner, this takes away one of their vital defence mechanism and leaves them vulnerable. Rusty metal chains are fitted around their neck which over time even embeds into their skin causing a deep wound and infection around the area. During the day when they are of no use, they are chained up in isolation or locked up in small cages where they cannot even move. They are left out in extreme weather conditions, even during rains. Gradually these highly intelligent animals become a living-dead dancing on the tunes of their owner. Pig-tailed macaques are social animals and live in groups but here on the coconut farms they are left isolated. But avarice knows no bound, and because of this many owners even give their monkeys to circuses for shows to earn some extra bucks.

The harsh conditions they are made to face over time makes them loose their mind. The lack of freedom and absence of socialization with others of their own kind is a mental torture to these beautiful animals. They are driven to desperation and they continuously jump at one place, circle around the area where they are chained and scream and pace repeatedly showing signs of anxiety. All these symptoms mean that the monkey is suffering from Zoochosis. Zoochosis refers to a repetitive, invariant behaviour pattern with no obvious goal or function performed by an animal.

An example of this situation is Odd, a 12 year old Pig-tailed Macaque who was rescued this year from a coconut farm in Thailand. Odd was forced to perform tricks for the visitors and pick coconuts from the trees. When the rescuers found him, he was tied to a coconut tree and left in isolation with no one around to look after him. The pain and agony Odd had been going since he was young had made him aggressive. Upon closely looking, the rescuers found out that the metal ring around his neck had embedded in his skin causing a deep wound around the area. In a situation where he should have been taken care of and provided with proper veterinary care, he was all alone in pain, tied to a tree. He was then rescued and provided proper veterinary care for his wound and lung infection caused due to poor living conditions. Currently he is being rehabilitated at the outdoor enclosures of Wildlife Friends Foundation, Thailand paid for by PETA. These outdoor enclosure provides him with enrichment activities and allows him to socialize with other monkeys. Now he is a free animal and master of his own will.

In 2019, PETA Asia did an investigation in 8 coconut farms and exposed them using monkeys as slaves including Thailand’s major coconut milk producer Chaokoh, several monkey training facilities and a coconut picking competition. Today even after 2 years of the investigation being done no appropriate action has been taken by Chaokoh or the Thai government inspite of all the evidences provided. No proper audits were conducted and they continue using misleading and inadequate audit system instead of directly going to inspect the farmers themselves and thus remain wilfully ignorant.

Even though many retailers around the world have stopped purchasing Thai coconut products, the Thai coconut industry, including Chaokoh and the Thai food processors association, and Thailand’s ambassador to the US are all actively attempting to mislead global retailers and consumers about the continued use of monkey labour.

Till today when we are having a normal day in our comfortable surroundings, these monkeys are abused and forced to work for our needs. Are we realizing that we are not only paying the monetary costs of coconut products of companies using monkey labour but also emboldening a few vicious people to exploit monkeys. It won’t work if you are consuming products from such industries and then spreading awareness on social media sites, your actions play a major role on someone’s life.

Pig-tailed macaques are protected by law in Thailand, where it’s illegal to own them unless they’re captive-bred. Violators can be fined or sentenced to two years in prison, although such a sentence has never been handed down. It is also believed that more than half of the monkeys are abducted from the wild.

During PETA’s follow-up undercover investigation, which involved visits to 14 coconut farms, two monkey schools, and a coconut-picking competition, some farmers told investigators that Chaokoh inspectors would announce their visits in advance so monkeys could be hidden. Other farmers told investigators that they keep their monkeys offsite until needed, which makes it less likely that monkeys will be present when inspectors come.

With the revelations about monkey labour, and with the financial hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, some coconut growers have surrendered their monkeys to government-run centres or to Wiek’s Wildlife Friends Foundation. In recent months, the sanctuary which already had nearly 300 macaques, more than 40 rescued from coconut farms has taken in four more. More are on the waiting list, but a pandemic-related funding shortage means the sanctuary can’t accept them now, says Edwin Wiek, the founder of Wildlife Friends Foundation, Thailand. Wiek fears that some nervous coconut growers have been releasing monkeys into the wild, where they’re ill-equipped to survive after a lifetime in captivity.

We need to realize that monkeys are not our slaves, they have their own interests, families and friends. Humans need to understand that being one of the most dominant species does not allow them to discriminate and use anything for their self-centered wants. Everyone and everything is here for a reason and we need to respect this fact.