No. 357

Smoking orangutan being forced to quit after 10 years

Most 15-year-old chain smokers would get a stern talking from a parent or guardian and be forced to quit and now the same is true for one in Indonesia. Except Tori is not like most teens. She's been smoking for about a decade and is an orangutan.

The animal has been smoking cigarettes at the Indonesian zoo since she was about five and is now going to quit cold turkey. According to The Associated Press, zookeepers are going to move Tori away from visitors who throw lit cigarettes into her cage so they can snap photos of her acting like a human and smoking.

A mesh cover will soon cover Tori's cage and later she will be moved to a small island away from the public, according to the Daily Mail. The move is aimed to protect four endangered orangutans at the Taru Jurung Zoo.

Indonesian zoos have recently come under scrutiny following animal deaths. A giraffe died in March with a 18-kilogram ball of plastic in its stomach because it ingested trash thrown into its cage by visitors.

Read more |  Yahoo News Canada, 08.07.12

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