A video of a baby monkey smoking a cigarette being used for an anti-smoking campaign backfired and sparked social media outrage with accusations of animal cruelty. The baby monkey, named Banjin, is one of the newest residents at the Hengshui Wildlife Park in north China’s Hebei Province.
According to the Daily Star, the video went viral on China’s social app Douyin, as well as Tik Tok, and showed the tiny monkey sitting on a bench with a lit cigarette in his mouth. Just seconds later, a woman removes the cigarette from the monkey’s lips and the poor little guy fell off the bench and hit the ground. Before the video ended, the woman sat Banjin up and handed him a bucket of seafood believed to have been his reward.
“Wow, it’s hitting him. Smoking is bad for your health.”
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Of course, the video sparked media outrage, and it was quickly removed with claims of animal abuse and cruelty. The viewers were appalled that a zoo would treat an animal like that. Other videos discovered from the zoo’s account show caretakers making the monkeys at the zoo perform tricks. The zoo has since claimed it was just a “gimmick.”
The video has since been deleted from Tik Tok. It is not clear if an investigation into animal cruelty will follow.
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