BBC has, after a year of investigations, been able to uncover a global torture network that enjoys watching baby macaques being harmed and killed on film.
The terrible news has been widely spread in international media. Hundreds of customers in the US, England and other countries have been paying Indonesians to abuse, torture and even kill long-tailed macaques on film.
On Telegram
The network reportedly started on YouTube and then moved over to private groups on the messaging app Telegram.
It was exposed after journalists from the BBC joined one of the torture groups and pretended to be interested. They managed to track both the perpetrators in Indonesia and customers around the world.
The journalists describe grotesque polls where members have been voting how the apes should be tortured and with which types of tools.
“No one will get away”
After the shocking revelation, police in several countries are involved and people have already been arrested – both perpetrators and customers.
“Anyone who is involved in one way or another can count on us coming knocking on their door – sooner or later. No one will get away,” an American police officer says to BBC.
Orangutans are exploited
Also Orangutans suffer when, for example, they are captured and kept as pets, or shown to tourists. There are also horrific cases where orangutans have been exploited in brothels and then rescued.
Facts:
The long-tailed macaque lives in Borneo, among other places. It is endangered just like the orangutan.
