Monkey hate

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Monkey hate is a form of zoosadism where humans have a hatred for monkeys and take pleasure in their suffering. [1] The phenomenon drew public attention after a global monkey torture ring was uncovered by the BBC in 2023. [2]

Contents

Baby macaque monkeys are primarily targeted. [2] [3] Monkeys are often referred to by monkey haters as "tree rats". [2]

Occurrence and arrests

Videos of monkeys being tortured or abused have been commonly uploaded to social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. [1] [4] According to a September 2021–May 2023 study by Asia for Animals’ Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), videos by pet macaque owners had a total of 12.05 billion views online, with 12 percent of these videos involving intentional physical torture, 13 percent involving psychological abuse, and 60 percent involving direct physical abuse. [4] [5] Video titles have often contained broken English phrases such as "million pity" and "million sadness". [6]

In 2021, a United States-based Telegram monkey torture group, Million Tears, was closed down after being brought to public attention. [4] [7] The group had about thirty members, who would pay owners of monkeys to carry out abuse on them. [8] In 2023, a continuation of the group, Ape's Cage, which involved around four hundred members, was uncovered by the BBC. [2] Video operators who carried out the monkey torture were primarily based in Indonesia, while the members of the group were largely American and from other Western countries. [2] Torture methods ranged from submerging monkeys in ice water to killing them in blenders, sawing them in half, or cutting off their tails and limbs. [2] [3] [4]

Several notable members of Ape's Cage have been arrested, including American Michael McCartney (known as "Torture King") [9] and two British women, Holly LeGresley and Adriana Orme. [10] [11] Two Indonesian men also received prison sentences for their involvement. [12] "Mr. Ape", the pseudonymous leader of the group, has not been publicly identified. [2]

Animal welfare organizations such as Action for Primates and Lady Freethinker have been involved in investigating monkey hate groups. [8]

Causes

According to SMACC, long-tailed macaques are particularly targeted for abuse, in part due to negative opinions of them in countries where they are native. Negative interactions between humans and wild macaques have increased as humans take over monkey habitats. Macaques are often condemned as pests with no or inadequate legal protection. [13]

The Independent reported that macaques are used in abuse videos "because of perceived close similarities to human babies". [4] Dave Gooptar, who helped investigate Ape's Cage, has stated his belief that monkeys are used by sexual sadists as a proxy for children. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians. Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted for life in tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to the challenging environment among tree tops, including large brain sizes, binocular vision, color vision, vocalizations, shoulder girdles allowing a large degree of movement in the upper limbs, and opposable thumbs that enable better grasping and dexterity. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs 30 g (1 oz), to the eastern gorilla, weighing over 200 kg (440 lb). There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, 36 in the 2010s, and six in the 2020s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macaque</span> Genus of Old World monkeys

The macaques constitute a genus (Macaca) of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe. Macaques are principally frugivorous, although their diet also includes seeds, leaves, flowers, and tree bark. Some species such as the long-tailed macaque will supplement their diets with small amounts of meat from shellfish, insects, and small mammals. On average, a southern pig-tailed macaque in Malaysia eats about 70 large rats each year. All macaque social groups are arranged around dominant matriarchs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crab-eating macaque</span> Species of monkey from Southeast Asia

The crab-eating macaque, also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settlements and in secondary forest. Crab-eating macaques have developed attributes and roles assigned to them by humans, ranging from cultural perceptions as being smart and adaptive, to being sacred animals, being regarded as vermin and pests, and becoming resources in modern biomedical research. They have been described as a species on the edge, living on the edge of forests, rivers, and seas, at the edge of human settlements, and perhaps on the edge of rapid extinction.

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References

  1. 1 2 Messamore, W. E. (2020-02-29). "YouTube Has a Vile Monkey Torture Community That Needs Nuking". CCN.com. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ajengrastri, Astudestra; Gunter, Joel; Henschke, Rebecca (2023-06-19). "Hunting the monkey torturers". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  3. 1 2 Freethinker, Lady (2021-08-06). "YouTube 'Monkey Haters' Form Private Group Where Members Are Paying to Have Baby Monkeys Tortured and Killed on Camera". Lady Freethinker. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Dalton, Jane (2023-09-21). "Social media users abusing monkeys in sickening videos for money and hits". The Independent. Retrieved 2024-07-04. Macaques - used because of perceived close similarities to human babies – are forced to suffer sexual abuse, dismembering and immersion in freezing cold or boiling hot water, the report says.
  5. ↑ "The Cruelty You Don't See: The suffering of pet macaques for social media content". World Animal Protection. 2023-09-18. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  6. ↑ Ajengrastri, Astudestra; Gunter, Joel; Henschke, Rebecca (2023-06-19). "Video penyiksaan monyet: Investigasi BBC bongkar komunitas pembenci monyet internasional yang memesan video penyiksaan ke orang-orang di Indonesia". BBC News Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  7. ↑ Geiger, Gabriel (2021-08-13). "People Buy Custom Baby Monkey Torture Videos on World's Worst Forum". VICE. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  8. 1 2 Bancroft, Holly (2021-08-11). "Baby monkeys tortured and killed in videos posted on US-based chat group". The Independent. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  9. ↑ Gunter, Joel; Henschke, Rebecca (2024-04-03). "Ringleader of global monkey torture network, 'The Torture King', is charged". BBC Home. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  10. ↑ Lawson, Eleanor; Henschke, Joel Gunter & Rebecca (2024-05-07). "Kidderminster woman pleads guilty to role in monkey torture network". BBC Home. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  11. ↑ Carter, Sarah (2023-06-20). "Monkey torture video ring with suspects and customers in U.S. exposed by BBC investigation". CBS News. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  12. ↑ Odeen-Isbister, Sara (2023-06-20). "Global monkey torture ring paying people to abuse animals uncovered". Metro. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  13. ↑ "The cruelty you don't see: The suffering of pet macaques for social media content" (PDF). SMACC. p. 53-55. Retrieved 2024-07-06. Long-tailed macaques are particularly targeted, partly due to existing negative opinions of this species in range states. Negative interactions between people and free-living longtailed macaques have increased in several countries, due to human activities such as the destruction of monkey habitat for use as human settlements and crop production, which has brought humans and macaques in greater proximity to each other, sometimes resulting in conflict.[49] The species is often condemned as a "pest" with no or inadequate legal protection.[50]
  14. ↑ Wallace, Kimberly (2023-07-20). "Exposing the world of monkey torture". Trinidad Express Newspapers. Retrieved 2024-09-21. Some suspects and customers linked to the monkey torture community defiantly claim that they are normal people who happen to hate monkeys. The reality, said Gooptar, is that the sexual sadism meted out against monkeys, as seen in some videos, reveals that monkeys are used as a proxy for children. How so? Gooptar explained that when being abused, baby monkeys tend to mimic certain childlike behaviours and characteristics which excite sexual sadistic predators. Rather than run the risk of paying to see children get exploited online, such individuals pay to see baby monkeys get hurt, or worse, in order to satisfy their depraved perverted desires, added Gooptar.
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