— have vowed to rescue 30 young village in Indonesia, where they've been kept since they were just eight months old and subjected to the According to the World Animal Protection organisation, the baby monkeys "watched their mothers get shot" before being "grabbed by their own tails and thrown into sacks by poachers" and carried away to Cirebon, in northwest Java. There, they've been forced to perform dance routines — known as Topeng Monyet — in human clothing for tourists and "starved, hanged, beaten and chained by the neck" if they don't submit. The babies are often made to wear masks, dress as dolls and forced to stand on two legs for hours on end.
They must perform dance steps and even ride bicycles — all for the shoppers and tourists on the streets. When they're not performing, they're kept in tiny cages. Sickeningly, wildlife advocates say, none of this is illegal in the country, which is known for its inadequate laws at best.
Yahoo News Australia understands the rescue mission, due to take place in the coming months, and will involve the voluntary surrendering of the animals in collaboration with the local authorities and the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN). Their captors are set to be "supported" in finding new, cruelty-free employment, so "the venue can be completely shut down". In exchange, they'll have to sign a contract that binds them to not restart their practice.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Ben Pearson, Director at World Animal Protection Australia said . "At a training centre, a young macaque is forced to endure four to six hours of physical and mental abuse every day for up to six months. This cruel regime completely shatters their spirit," he said.
"The inhumane ‘dancing monkey’ trade inflicts severe cruelty on these sentient beings who want nothing more than to be able to climb trees, bond with their social groups, and forage for fruits, seeds, and leaves in their natural habitat." The rescue mission will involve evacuating the monkeys to Cikole, West Java, where they will be medically assessed and treated, and go through a quarantine process. If suitable for release, they will then have a chance at a new life in protected, natural forests.
Dr Jan Schmidt-Burbach, Head of Animal Welfare at World Animal Protection, said "our partners JAAN and local authorities have made great progress" in stamping out the dancing monkey trade across much of Indonesia over the last 15 years. "We are proud to support them in shutting down this final venue of this practice," he said. "Whilst Cirebon is the final dancing village, the Topeng Monyet practice itself is not yet illegal.
JAAN’s ultimate aim is to ban the monkey dancing practice in Indonesia for good. We are supporting JAAN in their work with local authorities and charities to achieve this complete ban." In 2021, Indonesia was ranked first as the top nation for , with thousands of videos traced back to the country, one of Australia's closest neighbours and .
The SMACC (Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition) report, published by animal welfare coalition Asia for Animals (AfA), found that at least 1,626 videos depicting animal cruelty from nearly 5,500 obtained globally were believed to have originated in Indonesia. It's a growing global problem and one that campaigners have fought social media publishers, like Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta, against. Last year, Yahoo News reported on Meta's stubborn refusal , many of which depict extremely disturbing acts of cruelty towards live baby monkeys.
The content, posted to a number of profiles, that appear to be run by the same person, shows mainly baby monkeys — but also other , including cats, dogs and rabbits — forced into sickening, inhumane and life-threatening scenarios. In some of the videos, animals are seen stuffed into jars, plastic bottles, tied up with rope, suffocated in plastic bags, drowned, entangled in wire fencing, and in one particularly grotesque clip, a baby monkey is seen attacked by a pack of dogs as it lies defenceless on the ground while a person records and laughs. "Let's be clear — these videos depict unmistakable animal cruelty," Pearson earlier told Yahoo.
"You don’t need to be an animal welfare expert to see that. Facebook users themselves have sounded the alarm. By turning a blind eye, Facebook is perpetuating cruelty and exploitation on their platform, while normalising this shocking treatment of wild sentient animals.
"Most of this disturbing content features , who are often removed from their parents at a very young age, sometimes just days old, in order to be sold into the pet trade. Such maternal deprivation can cause severe and long-lasting physical and psychological damage." World Animal Protection research found there are a jaw-dropping 5.
5 billion animals kept in wildlife farms across the world, often in appalling conditions, for entertainment or tourist attractions, for petting, or to be turned into ornaments, luxury food, fashion products or traditional medicine..
