Thailand Boxes instead of treetops: Orangutans as a tourist attraction
At ten o'clock in the morning, a boxing match takes place near Bangkok. Hundreds of spectators are crowded in front of the stage, many have already pulled out their cell phone cameras. But it's not people who are getting into the ring at the Thai amusement park Safari World, but two orangutans. The visitors, including many children, clap and laugh.
04.03.2026, 08:34
SDA
"They would stop laughing if they could see the suffering and torture that these broken apes go through," says Daniel Merdes, Managing Director of the animal welfare foundation BOS Germany (Borneo Orangutan Survival). He recently went to neighboring Cambodia to see the controversial shows for himself.
At least there is no more boxing in the Phnom Penh Safari Park there. But it is hardly any less questionable: "Deafening music, often rhythmic, because the female orangutans have to make sexualizing butt movements," he says. "The audience went wild, including quite a few Western tourists."
What most visitors probably don't know: The fascinating apes share 97 percent of their genetic make-up with us humans. But they are not human. The intelligent primates are wild animals, made for a life in the treetops of the jungle.
Concrete instead of sleeping nests
Instead, they are trained in Southeast Asian parks to perform degrading shows for the amusement of the public. Instead of spending their nights in comfortable, self-built sleeping nests, they spend their nights on cold concrete floors.
"Sex sells", as the makers at Safari World Bangkok are well aware. A female pulls up her red skirt on command, with leopard-print panties underneath. In a provocative pose and with explicit gestures, she stretches out on the stage floor. Then the boxing match begins.
Two orangutans in tight sports shorts and boxing gloves plod into the ring, cheered on by animators. The apes perform rehearsed hooks and throw themselves theatrically to the ground. Finally, the supposed winner raises his arms in the air. But the only winners here are the operators, whose tills are ringing every day.
Animal rights activists appeal to tourists
On its website, the private park advertises "pure entertainment" and "a show with a fantastic price-performance ratio that will have you rolling on the floor laughing." The park is unimpressed by criticism from animal rights activists.
"Orangutans belong in the treetops of the rainforest - not in boxing rings or on stages where they perform humiliating tricks," says Jason Baker, President of the animal rights organization PETA Asia - and appeals to tourists to avoid facilities that abuse animals for entertainment. "Such shows would be illegal in countries like Germany," he emphasizes.
Those who pay to come into contact with wild animals support the painful separation from their families and lifelong captivity. Elsewhere, tourists can also interact with the great apes for cash - for example at Bali Zoo, where breakfast with orangutans is offered for the equivalent of 35 euros, or at The Zoo Wildlife Park in Dubai.
Habouba: social media star in Dubai
The female Habouba is the star here - now also on social media. Merdes was there and speaks of "an unbearable fate". She constantly has to pose for photos, is touched and has to hold hands. She is rewarded with cheap packet soups. "Could this overweight monkey ever learn to climb trees and find food again?" wonders the animal rights activist.
The fascinating "forest dwellers" are threatened with extinction and only live in the wild on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Every day they lose a little more of their jungle kingdom. They are being cleared mainly for palm oil, but illegal smuggling is also having a severe impact on the population.
Most of the orangutans in the shows and parks - or their mothers and fathers - have been forcibly removed from their home, BOS recently announced. They are victims of wildlife trafficking, an organized crime that, according to Interpol, generates up to the equivalent of 17 billion euros annually. This makes it one of the most lucrative crimes of all.
Learning freedom in the "forest school"
"The suffering of great apes in such tourist attractions and private zoos can only be stopped if there is no more money to be made," Merdes is convinced. Only with great commitment and a lot of luck will it be possible to free orangutans and return them to their home in Borneo. BOS runs "forest schools" there, where orangutans rescued from captivity are prepared for a life in freedom. Because many of them don't even know the jungle.
Like Kapuan. She was confiscated from Safari World in 2004 along with dozens of other orangutans following massive pressure from animal rights activists. Two years later, 47 animals were flown back to their home in Borneo. Kapuan had to relearn everything at the BOS forest school - she had only known life as an attraction in Thailand, subdued by force and ridiculed.
But there is also some good news: In November, the female orangutan was finally released into the wild at the age of 26 and is now living independently in the rainforest. After almost 20 years of rehabilitation. A figure that should give pause for thought.
