[monkeywire] 'Chimpsploitation' has got to stop

josh.greenman at gmail.com josh.greenman at gmail.com
Sun Apr 19 14:18:41 EDT 2009


http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/04/chimpsloitation-has-got-to-sto.html

'Chimpsploitation' has got to stop 

Rowan Hooper, online news editor

We often run stories celebrating our similarities to chimps, from their amazing cognitive skills to their use of weapons. 

But as fascinating as those stories are, this photo brings home our closeness to chimps like nothing else I've seen. It's also highly disturbing to see an ape in this state. 

Taken by RedEyedRex and posted it on Flickr, the chimp is apparently resident at Mysore zoo in India. It brings a new meaning to the phrase "naked ape". 

There are several hypotheses explaining why we don't have body hair and our ape relatives do, from the idea that nakedness was an anti-parasite adaptation to the idea that humans went through an aquatic phase in our evolution.

But unless the poor animal is naturally bald, it seems that he is suffering from stress-related hair loss. From the expression on his face (and it is obviously a male) he doesn't looks like he's the most well-adjusted of animals. It's sure to spark more arguments about the welfare of animals in captivity.

And in other chimp news today, I came across this YouTube clip of a juvenile chimp riding a segway. Although it's interesting to see how the chimp learns to ride the segway, it disturbs me to see it dressed in dungarees (though at least it's wearing a helmet). 

Chimpsploitation - not to mention the bushmeat trade - has got to stop.

Posted on April 17, 2009 4:22 PM


More information about the Monkeywire mailing list