Orangutan Smoking Video Goes Viral, Indonesia Zoo Criticized

A video showing an orangutan smoking a cigarette at an Indonesian zoo went viral, sparking renewed criticism over alleged mistreatment of animals. The viral video was shot Sunday at Bandung Zoo, about 90 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta.

The orangutan named Odin, 22, was seen in the video picking a cigarette thrown in its enclosure by a visitor. Odin then started taking few puffs before throwing the cigarette away. The animal could be seen breathing in smoke, and then blowing it out.

The video received condemnation from an animal activist, who cited the zoo's poor management for such incidents.

"This orangutan at Bandung Zoo is given a cigarette by ignorant visitors. Visitors do not know how to deal with animals, but the lack of supervision by zoo management is equally lacking, and is one of the issues which must be addressed. Indonesia desperately needs animal welfare standards in its zoos," Marison Guciano, founder of the Indonesia Animal Welfare Society, wrote on Facebook.

The zoo staff reportedly expressed their regret over the incident, saying the guard on duty may have been taking a break when the cigarette was thrown into the orangutan's enclosure.

According to the Associated Press, signs at the Bandung Zoo warn “visitors to not feed animals or give them cigarettes” and the zoo reported the incident to the police.

This is not the first time such an incident occurred in an Indonesian zoo. In 2011, photos of an orangutan named Tori surfaced, showing her smoking a cigarette the animal got from a visitor. The orangutan at the Satwa Taru Jurug zoo in Indonesia was reportedly smoking for a decade. The animal was later moved out of visitors’ sight for it to change its habit.

The zoo where the latest incident took place was termed "death zoo" in the past, with activists calling for its closure, after a video released early 2017 showed skeletal-looking bear begging for food.

Despite facing condemnation over the treatment of zoo staff towards the animals, officials said the bears were sufficiently fed and were healthy.

"The fact that you can see their ribs, that is certainly not normal. They are underfed," Gabriella Fredriksson from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said at the time.

The zoo first made headlines in May 2016 when reports surfaced about Yani, an elephant that died from an unknown disease. The zoo was accused of failing to provide adequate medical care to the elephant.

According to a 2015 report by Jakarta Globe, out of the 58 registered zoos in Indonesia, only four were found to be "decent and appropriate."

The controversy over Bandung Zoo follows that of a zoo in Surabaya, dubbed by some the "zoo of death" after several animal deaths in recent years.