Azalea (known in Korean as Dallae) is a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

housed at the

Korea Central Zoo The Korea Central Zoo, also referred to as the Pyongyang Central Zoo, is the national zoo of North Korea. It is located near Taesŏngsan mountain in downtown Pyongyang. The zoo has over 5,000 wild animals, comprising a total of 650 species, ...

Pyongyang, North Korea Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

. She is best known for her ability to smoke

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

, a behavior that has garnered criticism from multiple animal rights organizations.

Smoking

Azalea smokes about one pack of cigarettes a day, though she reportedly does not inhale when smoking. She is able to light her own cigarettes using a

lighter A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typic ...

and has also learned to light a cigarette by touching it to the end of a lit cigarette. Azalea's trainers support her smoking, providing her with both supplies and encouragement. Azalea is popular with the zoo's visitors, many of whom find her funny. Smoking is a widespread habit among men in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, with approximately 45% of men smoking on a regular basis. Azalea is also able to perform tricks like dancing, bowing, and touching her nose.

Criticism

The Zoo has been criticized by

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

President

Ingrid Newkirk Ingrid Elizabeth Newkirk (née Ward; born June 11, 1949) is a British-American animal activist, author and the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's largest animal rights organization. Newkirk founded PETA ...

, who stated that it was "cruel to willfully addict a chimpanzee to tobacco for human amusement" and that smoking was as dangerous to Azalea as it is to humans. The

Animal Legal Defense Fund The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an American animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to pr ...

Director of Litigation has described the keeping and treatment of Azalea as part of a larger problem with displaying captive wildlife for profit, stating that "they are made to do unnatural and freakish things to attract gawkers". Azalea is not the only animal at the zoo known for "less-than-ethical" habits, with other exhibits including a dog that can manipulate an abacus, basketball-playing monkeys, and a group of doves that perform a figure-skating routine.

References

{{Notable apes 1996 animal births Tobacco smoking Individual chimpanzees

Smoking

Criticism

See also

References