Seven storeys above a shop floor hawking cheap perfume and nylon underwear, Thailand's “shopping mall gorilla” sits alone in a cage — her home for 30 years despite a reignited row over her captivity.
Activists around the world have long campaigned for the primate to be moved from Pata Zoo, located on top of a Bangkok mall, with singer Cher and actor Gillian Anderson adding their voices in 2020.
But the family that owns Bua Noi — whose name translates as “Little Lotus” — has resisted public and government pressure to hand over the critically-endangered animal.
The gorilla has lived at Pata for more than three decades but her case made headlines again this month after the zoo offered a 100,000 baht ($2,800) reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever wrote “Free Bua Noi!” on one of the mall's walls.
The upset comes as Thailand welcomes back tourists after the pandemic, many drawn to the kingdom's wildlife.
The zoo represents a snag in its shift from a country known for tiger selfies and abused elephants to a kingdom trying to position itself as more environmentally friendly.
Authorities have passed new environmental legislation, mostly targeted at preventing the abuse of native-born animals, and these laws do not necessarily cover privately-owned zoos such as Pata — or non-indigenous creatures like Bua Noi.
“ (Pata) can still open because the wild animal conservation and protection act zoo section has not been enforced yet,” Padej Laithong, director of the national wildlife conservation office, told AFP.
Animal welfare regulations are monitored at only eight state-linked zoos, and officials are more worried about private zoos fulfilling licensing requirements.
Pata applied for a licence extension before it expired, Mr Laithong said, adding that he was mostly concerned over the building's fire safety — not the animals' welfare.
“All of these details must be answered before the license can be renewed, suspended or revoked,” he said.
A representative for Pata Zoo did not return multiple requests for comment.
But the zoo has blamed foreigners for the criticism, saying that zoos around the world house gorillas without problems.
“No citizens of any country in the world have attacked their country for possessing gorillas, except in Thailand,” the management said, in a six-page statement published after the graffiti incident.
They said the gorilla has been well cared for throughout her life, despite her costing more to support than she generates in revenue.
Bua Noi was reportedly three years old when she was brought over from Germany in 1992. With the average lifespan of the Eastern Gorilla being over 40 years, she has spent most of her life at Pata.
“She needs to get out of it,” Edwin Wiek of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand told AFP.
“She is not able to see the sun, the moon. She's in a cement box with glass windows.”
As international pressure to release Bua Noi grew last year, the family-owned zoo rejected a reported 30-million-baht ($880,000) offer from Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, saying the gorilla was too old to be rehomed.
But activists say this misses the point because the cage housing the gorilla — a highly sociable primate that would live in tight-knit family groups in the wild — is so unsuitable.
“She needs to be among her own kind, or at least be outside and have some chance to see things, experience nature, birds flying around,” said Mr Wiek.
Other animal rights groups have gone further, with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) — which has staged multiple protests over the years — saying Bua Noi is “suffering from extreme psychological distress”.
Each weekend, children and parents take the rickety lift up to the zoo, eventually climbing out to a rooftop Bua Noi shares with macaques, orang-utans and tropical birds.
Scruffy pygmy goats greet visitors before they are directed towards Bua Noi, away from the building dust and debris still dominating much of the zoo.
There the massive gorilla looks set to remain, stuck behind iron bars and glass windows with only a swinging tyre for company.
Specs
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
The biog
Date of birth: 27 May, 1995
Place of birth: Dubai, UAE
Status: Single
School: Al Ittihad private school in Al Mamzar
University: University of Sharjah
Degree: Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Hobby: I enjoy travelling a lot, not just for fun, but I like to cross things off my bucket list and the map and do something there like a 'green project'.
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
