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The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

author:Shisec said
The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

A 20-meter-long, 10-meter-wide cement cage, surrounded by stout iron fences, bare cement on the ground, a few worn tires, and not even a single green leaf in sight, this is the home of the gorilla Bua Noi, who has been imprisoned here for 33 years and is known as the saddest or loneliest gorilla in the world.

Since 10 years ago, countless people have wanted to rescue her, including Hollywood superstar Cher and "The X-Files" heroine Gillian Anderson, hoping to return to her own tribe, live with other gorillas, spend the last days of her life, and die peacefully. But she was unable to be freed because people failed to raise the $790,000 needed to release her, which of course could have been just an excuse.

The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

Baloi, a female gorilla, was sent to the zoo of Pata Pinklao, the oldest shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1990. Built on the roof of a mall, this small zoo is very popular with locals, parents bring their children here to see the animals, and Baloi is the most popular animal star because she is the only gorilla in Thailand.

But the zoo is notoriously bad, and zoologists even call it the worst zoo in the world because of its small and cramped environment, poor hygiene, not at all like a zoo, but more like an animal prison, animal activists say it is not a legal zoo at all.

The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

Gorillas are the closest kinship to humans other than chimpanzees, only diverging about 7 million years ago, and differ from our genetic sequences by an average of only 1.6%, making them the largest primates. Gorillas are very intelligent and use tools, equivalent to Stone Age humans, and domesticated gorillas even use sign language.

Gorillas are social animals, usually consisting of one adult male and multiple females and their offspring forming small family units, and groups often interact with each other, similar to small villages of early humans. They laugh, grieve, have rich emotions, develop strong family bonds, and some studies even suggest that they think about the past and the future, with spiritual and religious feelings.

The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

This means that gorillas are a highly social species, and captivity can lead to psychological problems and even stereotyped behaviors, that is, repetitive, anomalous actions without obvious goals, and even self-harm.

Baloi was once found spinning in a crazy circle in an iron cage, and even plucked his own hair, usually listless, sometimes sad and tearful, lying on the iron fence, staring blankly outside, as if he wanted to escape from this cage and live freely in the wild. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals say Baloi's living conditions are horrific and cruel, and he is suffering extreme psychological distress.

There have been calls for Baloi's release and return to Africa, but rumors say zoo owners have said they won't consider selling her unless they have 30 million baht, or $790,000. The Thai government has been campaigning for her release and organizing fundraising events, but has not been able to raise enough money.

The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

But department store executives say there have never been talks to sell Baloi to any agency, and that after living in the zoo for more than 30 years, she has adapted to an environment free of natural "pathogens" and cannot survive in the wild.

The company also said that it is actually normal for people to see her in tears and sadness, because they look different faces like humans, some have a sad face, some have a happy face, they have been taking care of her as if they were their own daughter, maybe they will eventually find a comfortable new home for her, but they must teach her to live independently.

In fact, it is not only the gorilla Baloi who suffers in this zoo, but also a mother and son of orangutans - the third closest animal to humans, separated about 12 million years ago, and their cages are even smaller.

The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

Then there's a chimpanzee, the closest animal to humans, who separated about 6 million years ago and may have been interbreeding with human ancestors 4 million years ago.

The world's saddest gorilla, locked up in a Thai mall for 33 years, costs $790,000 to rescue her

The Thai government, animal protection groups and celebrities have been working hard to get Baloi released, but how can she be easily released as a zoo star and a cash cow in a shopping mall? Recently, Bangkok Post, Yahoo, New York Times and many other media have once again paid attention to Baloi's fate and carried out concentrated reports, can she be free this time? Let's wait and see.

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