ZOO bosses are refusing to release the world’s saddest gorilla to allow her a brief taste of freedom before she dies.
Bua Noi has been locked in a zoo above a shopping mall in Thailand since she was one and its bosses originally wanted £700,000 to sell her, before appearing to change their mind.
Bosses of the Pata shopping mall have defied pleas from the government, animal rights group PETA and even singer Cher to release the tragic animal.
Bua Noi currently lives in a filthy enclosure in with rusty metal bars that sits on the top floor of the a rundown department store in the centre of Bangkok.
Campaigners are hoping Bua Noi – which means ‘little lotus’ – will be freed to spend her final days in a sanctuary with other gorillas in Germany.
She has been held captive in her cramped and dirty cage since she arrived from Germany in 1990 and has never set foot outside the concrete floor.
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There even appear to be tears in her eyes as she looks out from behind the bars of her enclosure, through a plastic screen separating her and tourists.
Originally the owners are believed to have said they would only free her if the Thai government bought her for £700,000, Thai news website Matichon reported.
But the department store company has now refused the bid by the government to end the plight of Bua No, despite it beginning a fund raising campaign.
“We have held activities in the past campaigning for Bua Noi’s release and to raise funds,” said Thanetpol Thanaboonyawat, secretary to the minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
“We collected donations from Bua Noi’s supporters. But the problem is that the owner refuses to sell Bua Noi. When he does agree to sell her, the price is too high.
“Bua Noi is considered private property so we cannot do anything to remove her.”
He said there was nothing the government could do seize Bua Noi under Thailand’s animal welfare laws.
“The owner bought Bua Noi before laws were introduced to prevent the trade and ownership of endangered animals and wild animals.”
The department store has now rejected the freedom bid claiming Bua Noi would not be able to adjust to a new home.
Pata zoo said it is “taking good care of the animal and aware that she could die at any time due to her old age”, the Thai Examiner news website reported.
Zoo director Kanit Sermsirimongkol said previously they take care of the gorilla “like our daughter”.
Bua Noi’s plight first emerged in 2015 when animal rights activists handed in a petition which called for her release and the zoo’s closure.
PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker said today that Bua Noi was being forced to live in “horrifying and cruel conditions” and suffering “extreme psychological distress”.
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“This shabby facility is internationally condemned as one of the worst zoos in the world.
“I urge everyone to keep the pressure on Pata Zoo and to demand that it let PETA help retire these animals to reputable sanctuaries that would meet their physical and mental needs.”
