Citizens Plead For Chimp's Release From Zoo

by Patricia Collier

His name is Ola and he was born in 1987 in Norway. Orphaned at birth, the chimpanzee was sold to Ölands zoo where he grew accustomed to humans.

When Ola was one and a half years old, the zoo's owner loaned him to the Stockholm City Theatre for a temporary role.

Through his appearances on stage, Ola became a popular figure for children's books and television shows. The theater family who were looking after Ola became very attached to the young chimp, and after he was returned to the zoo in Norway the family managed to fix up a place for him at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage.

Shortly after Ola's return to Norway, however, the zoo owner secretly sold him, along with three female chimps named Viktoria, Emma and Ester, to a zoo in Thailand called "Safari World."

Safari World is supposedly using Ola for breeding purposes, yet animal activists who have seen the chimp have reported that he is not physically able to breed and is suffering from eye problems.

According to the activists, Ola and the other chimps have been housed in cramped conditions, without easy access to water, for several years.

Despite numerous attempts by politicians and activists alike to secure Ola's release, the owner of Safari World has refused to negotiate. He has said he wants the Swedish Royal Court to ask for Ola´s freedom, an action which is currently being negotiated.

According to Doug Cress with the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, efforts to either get Safari World to release Ola or to get the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference (CITES), or the Thai authorities to intervene on Ola's behalf have failed, largely because no laws have officially been broken in this case.

"According to the authorities, Ola was legally sold and transported to Thailand, and unless the owner of Safari World chooses to let him go, we can only hope that public pressure and morality will force the owner to let him go," Cress said.

Research indicates that chimpanzees are over 99 percent genetically identical to humans, a fact which, according to activists, attests to the high level of suffering the four chimps are experiencing in their current, inhumane environment.

Cress said his facility would be happy to house Ola and the three females, if their release can be secured.

The need to rescue Ola and the other chimps has become even more urgent since Thai police raided Safari World on November 23 as part of their "campaign to wipe out illegal wildlife trade." The police were acting on a tip that orangutans of all ages, native only to Borneo and Sumatra, were being kept there.

"Indonesia does not allow the export of orangutans, but we were informed that more than 100 of them were here," Forestry Police chief Major General Sawek Pinsinchai told the press.

"We found 115, whereas the zoo earlier reported that it only had 44," Pinsinchai said.

Safari World's Web site shows orangutans dressed in shorts and wearing boxing gloves, forced to participate in "boxing shows" for entertainment of visitors to the facility.

Individuals who want to help Ola and other chimpanzees can take part in the petition drive to free Ola, by going to The Petition Site and entering your name and comments.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.