Orangutan boxing
© Getty Images
This place isn't monkeying around.

A Thailand zoo recently hosted an event featuring orangutans boxing as other apes stood outside the ring banging on drums and dancing in bikinis.

The wild display at Safari World has gotten mixed reviews over the years, but some argue it should be shut down.


"[Orangutans are] extremely intelligent, and the zoo was exploiting that," said Samantha Fuller, a teacher from Boston living and working in Thailand. Fuller saw the show on a recent school field trip.

"They're smart and can tell when they're being laughed at," she said. "It upset me so much I had to come home and shower just to wash it all off."

Orangutans boxing
© Getty Images
Animal rights organizations have long called for an end to the pummeling primates.

"It is shocking that such cruel and exploitative treatment of animals continues for the so-called 'entertainment' of tourists," Philip Mansbridge, UK Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told Metro.co.uk in 2015.

In addition to its boxing orangutans, Safari World is home to other unusual attractions that include a herd of over 200 giraffes, a cowboy stunt show and an "Egg World" exhibit.