Ex-Dancing Monkeys

Dance monkeys are forced to perform tricks for the public. The macaques wear doll clothes and masks to resemble people as much as possible. The abuse they undergo to learn the tricks are cruel. During training, they are chained to a wall and then have to learn to stand on two legs for a long time. Their arms are tied on their back. With a metal ring around the neck with two chains attached to two posts, the animals must remain standing. In our battle against dancing monkeys, our team investigates where training centers are located. These can be dismantled together with the national police, after which the macaques can be confiscated.

The rehabilitation process usually takes one year. The monkeys arrive in a terrible state: they are extremely skinny, have broken tails or ingrown chains. Some have infections in their mouth because their teeth have been pulled out. Others have serious chronic diseases such as tuberculosis. Some, unfortunately, do not survive.

In recent years we were able to release hundreds of monkeys in protected forest areas. To find suitable territory, the team spends months exploring nature. For example, release is not possible within the territory of existing monkey groups. Now the monkeys can be monkeys again and leave their dark past behind them.