Limbani is a chimpanzee from the Miami Zoo with his own Instagram profile where he paints, plays the guitar and eats ice cream
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himTo make a ranking, it is difficult to establish whether the most chilling photo is the one in which Limbani, a chimpanzee living in captivity at the Miami Zoo, is lying on the ground with two slices of cucumber in his eye or the one in which he paints on a sheet. white. But perhaps even more disarming is that there are over 700 people who find all this normal.
Limbani lives at Miami's Zoological Wildlife Foundation (ZWF), a zoo that claims to have wildlife conservation as its mission, but then charges visitors to pet exotic animals, including tigers and monkeys. Something that more than conservation, he knows a lot about exploitation and disrespect for animal welfare.
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A post shared by Limbani (@limbanizwf)
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Limbani (@limbanizwf)
We in journalistic complaints against zoos in over ten years have made many. Keeping animals in cages, fences, feeding them and thinking that you can even tame them goes against their nature. The chimpanzee, unbeknownst to him, is the symbol of this horror. A profile of him has been opened on Instagram, there are 743 thousand followers and over 800 posts. Photos and videos in which we don't see a chimpanzee, but an animal trained to do human things. Limbani plays the guitar, paints, eats ice cream, wears impractical clothes and, above all, is always and only in the company of humans.
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A post shared by Limbani (@limbanizwf)
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Limbani (@limbanizwf)
Chimpanzees are social animals that spend their lives in closely related groups, they need their fellow men, not to become a caricature of themselves. The absence of models to follow and training are pushing this primate to adopt behaviors that break its balance. And that make you worry. Fortunately, alongside many who find it normal for Limbani to play in a ball pool, there are many others who are indignant and worried about his physical and mental health.
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A post shared by Limbani (@limbanizwf)
It is not clear where Limbani came from, whether he was born in the wild and orphaned or lived his entire life around humans, what is certain is that instead of being placed in a group, he was raised as a child. Scrolling through the older photos, the chimpanzee has a diaper, a pink onesie, unwraps a cookie, drinks from a plastic cup, holds a balloon. And the list of oddities could go on and on. What lies behind these images that create consensus on social media? They are stories of detention, of non-freedom, of suffering, of non-respect for ethological needs and exploitation for commercial purposes. That's why we, the chimpanzee playing the guitar, doesn't make us laugh at all.
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