The World’s Loneliest Gorilla Just Spent Another Christmas Behind Bars

Thailand’s last gorilla spent yet another Christmas locked behind bars, despite large-scale efforts to free her.

According to PETA, 33-year-old Bua Noi has been living in a small cement cage by herself since 1983. The cage is located in a department store zoo in Bangkok, Thailand, a place that’s been dubbed one of the “world’s worst zoos.”

After spending more than 30 years in solitary confinement, people around the world are desperate to see her free, but the zoo refuses to allow Bua Noi the life she deserves.

According to PETA, animal rights activists around the world have spent years attempting to free Bua Noi, and PETA even offered to take her and the other animals and relocate them to a sanctuary where their needs would be met. Sadly, the owner has refused to cooperate and continues to imprison and exploit the animals for profit.

According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment even requested the zoo relocate Bua Noi to a sanctuary, but the owner still refused. The ministry then wanted to relocate the gorilla back to the zoo in Germany where she was taken from, but the zoo’s owner refused to release her without being paid 30 million baht (around $864,304 USD).

The Bangkok Post further reported that the zoo’s executives claimed they were doing right by Bua Noi by keeping her captive and unstimulated, saying she spent so long living in the concrete cage that she wouldn’t be able to adjust to a better way of life.

According to PETA, many animals living in the barren zoo alongside Bua Noi “show clear signs of zoochosis, a captivity-induced mental illness that drives animals to rock, sway, pace, or even harm themselves.”

Animals were also observed playing with discarded trash from tourists and visitors, the only toys and mental stimulation they’re offered.

You can see videos of Bua Noi and the other animals in the videos below:

According to a recent study, gorillas have surprisingly active social lives that are much more dynamic than previously thought. Keeping a gorilla in solitary confinement is simply inhumane.

Hopefully enough pressure will be put on the zoo’s owner to release Bua Noi and offer her the life she deserves. Tourists and visitors can help by refusing to support the zoo or the shops that operate from the same building.