Monkey Picked Coconut Boycott Propagation
Western retailers ban Thai coconut products after report from animal rights group
A trained macaque collects coconuts from a tree in Chumphon province. An adult macaque can collect between 900 and 1,000 coconuts a day, compared to around 80 for a human gatherer. (Photo from the Bangkok Post archive).
Leading western retailers have begun removing Thai coconut products from their shelves amid allegations that the coconuts were picked up by inhumanely treated monkeys.
The monkeys are snatched from the wild and trained to collect up to 1,000 coconuts a day, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).
The animal rights group said that pig-tailed macaques in Thailand were treated as “coconut harvesting machines.”
Peta said the monkeys were used by farms that supply two of Thailand’s best-known coconut milk brands, Aroy-D and Chaokoh, which are exported to many countries in Europe and the United States.
“Following Peta Asia’s investigation, more than 15,000 stores will no longer buy products from these brands, and most will also not buy coconut products from monkey work in Thailand,” the group said on its website.
In the UK, Waitrose, Ocado, Co-op and Boots have promised to stop selling some coconut products from Thailand, the BBC reported.
A spokesperson for retail giant Tesco told the BBC: “Our own-brand coconut milk and coconut water do not use monkey labor in their production and we do not sell any of the branded products identified by Peta.
“We do not tolerate these practices and would remove any product from the sale that is known to have used monkey labor during its production.”
The Morrisons chain said it had already removed monkey-picked coconut products from its shelves. Sainsbury’s told the BBC: “We are actively reviewing our ranges and investigating this complex problem with our suppliers.”
Peta said he had found eight farms in Thailand where monkeys were forced to collect coconuts to export worldwide.
Male monkeys can collect up to 1,000 coconuts a day, says Peta. It is believed that a human can choose around 80.
“Other coconut growing regions, such as Brazil, Colombia, and Hawaii, harvest coconuts using human methods, such as tractor-mounted hydraulic lifters, human tree climbers, rope or platform systems, or ladders, or plant dwarf coconut trees.” said.
The group said they also discovered “monkey schools,” where the animals were trained to pick fruit, as well as ride a bike or play basketball for the entertainment of tourists.
“The animals in these facilities, many of which are illegally captured as babies, displayed stereotypical behavior indicative of extreme stress,” said Peta.
“The monkeys were chained to old tires or confined to cages that were barely big enough for them to turn.”
“A monkey was seen in a cage in a van frantically shaking the bars of the cage in a futile attempt to escape, and a monkey screaming with a rope desperately tried to escape from a handler.”
In one case, the organization was told that the monkeys would have their canine teeth pulled out if they tried to bite the handlers.
“Peta calls on decent people to never support the use of monkey labor while avoiding coconut products from Thailand.”
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