June 4, 2023, 6:06 am | Read time: 3 minutes
The fate of the gorilla Bua Noi in a notorious zoo in Bangkok has stirred emotions for years. Actress Felicitas Woll has reached out to the operators with an emotional letter.
Recently seen in a hedgehog costume on “The Masked Singer” and now advocating for gorillas, orangutans, and others: Actress Felicitas Woll (“Berlin, Berlin”) is campaigning against the captivity of great apes in zoos and has even taken on the role of a primate behind bars for her cause. “Zoos are prisons for animals!” said the 43-year-old Hamburg resident by choice. “Ninety-eight percent of the DNA of great apes is identical to ours. How could I, in good conscience, look at these creatures so similar to us through glass or bars?”
Woll, in collaboration with the animal rights organization Peta, is specifically advocating for the great apes in a heavily criticized private zoo in Bangkok, Thailand (as reported by PETBOOK)—and has now addressed an urgent letter to the owners. All animals at the Pata Zoo, located on the roof of an old shopping center, show signs of extreme psychological distress and must live isolated without the company of their kind, Woll wrote.
Also of interest: Influencer Pamela Reif endangers apes with commercial shoot for her fitness bar
When a Species Is Considered Extinct
Animals also mourn the loss of their own kind
German Playmate of the Year also undresses for Peta
Felicitas Woll Denounces Suffering in Concrete Cages
The female gorilla Bua Noi (“little lotus”) has languished in the zoo for more than 30 years in a concrete cage—without any nature, distraction, or sunlight. Several orangutans and dozens of other primates are also confined in cages that are far too small. “The animals are serving a life sentence there through no fault of their own. This place must finally be closed,” Woll demanded.
Animal rights activists and celebrities like pop icon Cher have repeatedly tried to relocate the great apes to more suitable enclosures. The owners of the zoo, also known as the “horror zoo,” have consistently refused. “I urgently call on you to accept the offer,” Woll wrote. Many people around the world are following Bua Noi’s story and her suffering with growing concern.
Animals deserve to live as nature intended, emphasized the native Hessian. “Imagine the joy it would bring to Bua Noi’s fans in Bangkok and around the world to see her rolling in the grass, climbing trees, and forming relationships with other gorillas.”
In the Pata Zoo in Thailand, Bua Noi is joined by other primates, reptiles, and birds. The zoo is located on the roof of a shopping center, where the animals live under deplorable conditions. The gorilla Bua Noi, which means “little lotus flower,” has been in a tiny cage there since 1992. In 2022, there were efforts to buy the ape’s freedom, but so far, nothing has changed for the animal and its “fellow inmates.”
With material from dpa