Cher pleas for Thailand’s Pata Zoo to rehome a gorilla after 30 years living above shopping center…after helping free the world’s loneliest elephant
Pop icon and animal activist Cher is on a mission to save Bua Noi, the last remaining gorilla in Thailand, who has spent three decades living above a Thai shopping center.
After recently spearheading a successful social media campaign to free ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ from a Pakistani zoo, the 74-year-old revealed she is already working to free another imprisoned animal living in ‘abysmal conditions.’
In an appeal to the ‘good people of Bangkok,’ she asked for assistance from her fans to help her ‘stop the torturing of innocent animals’ at Pata Zoo on Twitter.
Animal activist: Cher is on a mission to save Bua Noi, the last remaining gorilla in Thailand, who has spent three decades living above a Thai shopping center; seen in 2018
The small rooftop zoo, in Thailand’s capital, ‘been branded ‘one of the saddest places in the world’ by animal rights group PETA Asia,’ according to The Washington Post.
The Asia-based animal rights group believes that ‘Bua Noi was captured as a baby’ and has been living in solitude for years, after her mate passed away.
Last week, Cher wrote a handwritten letter to Thailand’s environment minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, requesting he ‘find it in his heart’ to release the gorilla, who receives no physical or mental stimulation.
All alone: After recently spearheading a successful social media campaign to free ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ from a Pakistani zoo, the 74-year-old proved she’s already working to free other imprisoned animals living in ‘abysmal conditions’
As she advocated for Bua Noi, the performer also made a case for the other primates in the zoo to be relocated ‘to secure a sanctuary for the animals at no expense to the zoo’s owner or the Thai government,’ per the outlet.
Cher also suggested ‘the gorilla be moved to a peaceful and natural environment in Congo,’ which would give her opportunities to socialize with over gorillas.
Over the weekend, the Grammy-winning singer tweeted that the owner of Pata Pinklao Department Store and Zoo, Kanit Sermsirimongkol, was a ‘money hungry man.’
Making a change: Last week, Cher wrote a handwritten letter to Thailand’s environment minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, requesting he ‘find it in his heart’ to release the gorilla, who receives no physical or mental stimulation
Trapped: The small rooftop zoo, in Thailand’s capital, ‘been branded ‘one of the saddest places in the world’ by animal rights group PETA Asia,’ according to The Washington Post
Earlier this year, Sermsirimongkol defended Bua Noi’s living conditions, which he claimed were made to resemble a cave and said she had a TV to stay entertained.
‘Want to send her back to nature? We should think about the animals’ quality of life in the jungle. They are under threat from diseases like AIDS and Ebola, as well as civil wars and poachers,’ he told the Bangkok Post.
Last month, Cher met with the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ in a zoo, before he left to live out his retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary.
Doing good: Last month, Cher met with the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ in a zoo, before he left to live out his retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary
His departure comes following years of campaigning by animal activists including Cher, who helped to secure his trip to the Cambodian sanctuary.
The elephant named Kaavan, an overweight Asian bull elephant, had languished in a zoo in Islamabad for 35 years, and lost his partner in 2012.
Kavann was sent to a new home, a 25,000-acre wildlife sanctuary in Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia where he will spend his retirement with other elephants.