BEIRUT — A 12-year-old chimpanzee is heading to a sanctuary in Brazil on Monday after animal rights workers discovered him smoking cigarettes to entertain visitors at a Lebanese zoo.
Omega, who weighs around 132 pounds (60 kilograms), has never climbed a tree or seen other chimpanzees and has a troubling smoking habit he maintained from picking up cigarettes that visitors threw into his cage.
"The chimp still regularly smokes ... if someone will throw him a cigarette he'd pick it up and go for it straight away," said Jason Meier, executive director for animal rights group Animals Lebanon.
Organizers of Omega's evacuation say it marks the first time a chimpanzee has been rescued in Lebanon, a country with virtually no animal rights protection laws.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jPQbs9YtfgPL3TZRJWJnRsb63Njg?docId=5070572
http://www.animalconcerns.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment