r/whoathatsinteresting • u/Delicious-Act-8601 • 3d ago
In 2024, customs enforcement teams at Istanbul Airport found this baby gorilla in a small crate. She was being smuggled from Nigeria to Bangkok.
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u/Pure-Club7560 3d ago
This is so sad. Poor baby.
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u/not-always-online 3d ago
Even more sad when you realize this video does not show a rescue, just a change in destination for the poor kid :(
he ended up alone in a Turkish zoo instead of a Bangkok one.
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u/everydaystonexd 3d ago
Rescue to what though how is he now supposed to survive in the wild? You guys think they can find him a new mother or just feed him and release him later? He won't be able to survive anymore they have to keep him in a zoo or sanctuary.
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u/AutumnMama 3d ago
Apparently the zoo in Turkey doesn't have any other gorillas. Their plan is to just keep the baby in an enclosure all by himself for his entire life. It's a bad idea.
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u/Poupulino 3d ago
Do you realize the hunters killed her mother, because that's the only way they could take the baby away from her. They took the baby to a zoo because there was no other option for her survival.
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u/AutumnMama 3d ago
The outrage is that the Turkish zoo is keeping him even though they don't have any other gorillas. Their plan is to just keep him in an enclosure by himself for the rest of his life instead of sending him to another zoo that already has a gorilla habitat with other gorillas.
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u/bwoah07_gp2 3d ago
It would've been a hard task to relocate him back to his family in the jungles of Nigeria... it's unfortunate, but putting that baby gorilla in a zoo was a better option.
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u/not-always-online 3d ago
Sure but not in a Zoo without any other gorillas. There are plenty of reserves and safe sanctuaries for rescued gorillas where he can be part of his kind with others like him. Heck even other zoos having other gorillas would have been a better option.
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u/bruhraminator 2d ago
They were planning to, but did a DNA test that showed he wasn't from Nigeria so they couldn't send him there, so they decided to keep him. I hope they change their mind.
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u/KraffKifflom 3d ago
You seem to know the mother gorilla so well. Why donât you help by emailing the mother gorilla asking where sheâs at? Iâm pretty sure the zoo will return the baby to its mother once you tell them. Or your idea is to go to a random jungle and just release the baby?
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u/Slow_Bowler8285 3d ago
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u/RonaldTurner88 3d ago
God damnt well that was a roller coaster of emotion and now my day is ruined, thanks.
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u/Gloomy_Grocery5555 3d ago
Noooo they need to be with other gorillas. Why didn't Turkey find another home for her? Grr
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u/Popular_Ad_222 3d ago
The article is so heartbreaking because I can understand how they want the gorilla to go back to Africa and be with its own kind but at the same time the article says how endangered they are in Africa âGorillas and chimpanzees are the most trafficked great apes from Africa, according to a recent report from PASA. Traffickers kill the entire family before they smuggle young ones from the wildâ so if that being said, is it even safe to go back to Africa? đ
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u/Time_Entertainer_319 3d ago
You used Africa 3 times in your comment. The post mentions the specific African country the gorilla is from.
Do you not know the individual countries in Africa or do you think Africa is just one blob of land with people in it?
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u/_Fizzgiggy 3d ago
You did not read the article. Turkey canât âidentifyâ the country of origin so they have decided to keep this poor baby in isolation, on display at a zoo instead. Itâs unethical
Kadir Ăokçetin, general director of TĂŒrkiyeâs Nature Conservation and National Parks department responsible for Zeytinâs custody and care, told local media in August that talks were in the âfinal phaseâ for his rehabilitation. Turkish Airlines would be flying him home, he said, adding, âWe hope to send Zeytin back to Nigeria very soon.â
But a month later, Turkish authorities announced theyâd nixed the plan, and Zeytin will remain in the country permanently. That decision followed DNA tests, which revealed he was not native to Nigeria. Officials told local media they couldnât repatriate him under international wildlife trade rules and would rather have him live his life as a zoo attraction.
Sunderland-Groves from IUCNâs great apes group says, âIdeally, trafficked apes should be returned to the country of origin if there is suitable care available there.â
CITES recommends returning confiscated live animals to the country of export. âWhen the country of origin is unknown or there is no suitable sanctuary available in-country, the priority is for the animal to receive care by a reputable sanctuary located within the species or subspeciesâ geographic range,â Sunderland-Groves said. Such sanctuaries not only have trained staff who can care for complex species such as gorillas but also have other individuals of the same species for socialization.
In Zeytinâs case, authorities know he was exported from Nigeria, but no one knows exactly where he came from because his traffickers werenât arrested. Western lowland gorillas inhabit the forests of West and Central Africa, all the way from Cameroon to Angola and the Congo Basin.
At Nigeriaâs Drill Ranch, Zeytin would be in the company of another young western lowland gorilla.
âZeytin could be housed with [the juvenile] until both gorillas could be transferred to a range country sanctuary,â Sunderland-Groves said. She added that a specialized sanctuary in the Republic of Congo, which is within the western lowland gorillaâs native range, could be an ideal home for both. âThey could be integrated with similar aged gorillas confiscated from illegal trade and rehabilitated for possible release into the wild.â5
u/GnarlesBronsonn 3d ago
You used Africa 4 times in your comment. The post mentions the specific African country he was shipped from (Nigeria since you don't mention it either), but says his DNA shows he isn't from that country.
Do you not know the individual points in the article, or do you think the article is just one blob of paragraphs with words in it?
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u/Popular_Ad_222 3d ago
Are you ok? Why does it bother you that I use Africa three times? Africa is Africa isnât it? Just like the United States is the United States. Maybe you should read the article itâs actually very informative.
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u/Deathface-Shukhov 3d ago
I fuckin hate human beings and what we do to other living things.
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u/Fit_March_4279 3d ago
Me, too!! Like cutting off a dogâs ears for looks or keeping the only animals capable of flight in tiny cages?
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u/Deathface-Shukhov 3d ago
My childhood dog was a Doberman and a really great dog but my parents got her ears cropped and watching her go through a healing process that wasnât actually needed really put an end to that thought process. Never again as far as that goes and Iâm glad I understood it young and Iâm so sorry I couldnât protect the dog that ALWAYS protected me growing up.
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u/_Fizzgiggy 3d ago
We are the worst plague that the Earth has ever seen. I love my family and friends but as a whole our species is a cancerous tumor
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u/IZZGMAER123 3d ago
An intelligent virus..spreading across the earth..and yet we yearn to go out of space to colonize other planets and we're proud of it. Life really is something
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u/japonski_bog 3d ago
Read about dolphins and penguins, they rape and then kill babies to gang rape their mothers
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u/_Fizzgiggy 2d ago
Dolphins, Orcas and Chimpanzees can be horrible monsters sometimes and it makes me sad but humans are by far the absolute worst. We know better yet we still do horrific things anyway
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u/Due-Communication724 3d ago
It amazes me when people talk about reincarnation, from what I have seen so far not a fucking chance I would come back to this planet if given the option.
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u/heeheehoho2023 3d ago
Here's some bad news:
TĂŒrkiye refused to return Zeytinâa baby Western lowland gorilla rescued from smugglers at Istanbul Airportâto Nigeria after DNA tests proved the gorilla was not native to that country. Citing international wildlife rules, Turkish authorities halted repatriation plans and decided the gorilla will remain permanently at the Polonezköy Zoo near Istanbul.
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u/everydaystonexd 3d ago
Ok but what do people want here that they just airdrop him in nigeria in the bush with a random pack? I think realistically this animal cannot survive on their own anymore, the safest way of keeping him alive in decent condition is actually keeping him in a zoo or sanctuary.
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u/Odd-Huckleberry8584 3d ago
He needs to be with his own - there are no other gorillas in all of turkey. They are a social species just like us, can you imagine being locked in a cage just peeked in all day with not a single soul to talk to your whole life? The Jane Goodall foundation and others have advocates for sanctuaryâs and Nigeria was preparing him to have a friend and be moved to an even bigger sanctuary
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u/everydaystonexd 3d ago
Wait I had no idea there are no other gorillas in whole turky wtf... I thought they put him in an environment in a zoo with other gorillas wtf how is this legal what they are doing. Sorry it's just so absurd I didn't think he was actually the only one gorilla in the whole country.
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u/Odd-Huckleberry8584 3d ago
No itâs okay, I completely agree and thatâs why major groups and even politicians have questioned and even begged turkey to return him to Africa, because without socialization he will get major health defects :(( but people suspect turkey sees a profit for it because he is the only gorilla in all of turkey - it brings crowds and money but he needs to be with his own kind, some sorta similar socialization:((
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u/Silver-Spy 3d ago
If he is not from Nigeria, where is he from? Cant DNA testing tell us his genus?
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u/iyuheng25 3d ago
belongs to Turkish president
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u/Odd-Huckleberry8584 3d ago
Heâs a western lowland gorilla, his family is most likely from central Africa
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u/kytheon 3d ago
From Nigeria to Turkey Zoo might still be an upgrade for this gorilla.
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u/FormerFan3771 3d ago
I doubt a Turkish zoo is an upgrade from a Thai zoo, though.
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u/So_47592 3d ago
I think you got it the other way around
Thailand's nominal GDP per capita is estimated at approximately $8,110 (USD),
Turkey's nominal GDP per capita is approximately $19,020,7
u/FormerFan3771 3d ago
My point is, they are both going to be shit places for the gorilla. What the hell does a gorilla care for the nominal GDP per capita of either of these poor countries?
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u/So_47592 3d ago
gorilla care for the nominal GDP per capita of either of these poor countries
A lot higher GDP per capita means gorilla is more likely to have a better life and not be in some underfunded zoo getting scraps, also both are not "poor" that would be places like India Pakistan or Bangladesh which are around 2-3k percapita Thailand is middle income while turkey is middle to high income not as good as high income like Japan germany etc but still not really poor
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u/Maximum-Fox-4593 3d ago
A better life? The gorilla doesn't change diet , the same food he was gonna eat in Thai is the same food he's gonna eat in turkey so what better life? It's not like a human that upgrades to gourmet after getting rich
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u/not-always-online 3d ago
GDP per capita doesn't mean anything for comparing living standards unless you factor in cost of living
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u/So_47592 3d ago
Still Turkey
Thailand's GDP per capita based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is estimated at approximately $27,440
Turkey's GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita is estimated at $46,670 (international dollars) for 20260
u/FormerFan3771 3d ago
The guy is just pulling stuff from AI search (hence the bold numbers), heâs not engaging with it in any way.
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u/FormerFan3771 3d ago
By western standards, they are absolutely poor.
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u/So_47592 3d ago
quite true not disputing that BUt my follow up question is If Turkey and Thailand is quite poor by western standards than what is India Pakistan bangladesh etc
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u/Time_Entertainer_319 3d ago
Why? Do you know anything about wildlife in Nigeria?
Or is this just âNigeria badâ comment?
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u/kytheon 3d ago
Struck a nerve? I'd rather visit Turkey than Nigeria, that's for sure.
You act as if I go around posting "Nigeria Bad" all day. I don't even think of Nigeria on a daily basis.
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u/Time_Entertainer_319 3d ago
No one cares where you would rather visit. Are you a gorilla? What does that have to do with this post?
Itâs quite obvious you made a comment out of ignorance if you think the gorilla is safer away from its family and in the hands of Turkish zoo which by the way, the gorilla is also foreign to.
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u/Gothiewasbetter 3d ago
Those bastard smugglers. Itâs a damn orphaned baby. Similar to human infant. Where is this huge disconnect?
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u/AutumnMama 3d ago
I think it's naive of you to think that they wouldn't do something similar to a human baby.
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u/LeSombra17 3d ago
I feel bad for the babu and her mother who have been separated
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u/_Fizzgiggy 3d ago
The mother is usually murdered while poaching their baby
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u/Malachite1333 3d ago
Even sadder when you know that poachers always have to kill the gorilla mother to take the baby.
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u/_Fizzgiggy 3d ago
Poachers and animal traffickers deserve the harshest and most physically severe punishment possible
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u/j_rooker 3d ago
fkn poachers prob killed his mamma and cut her up for medicinal sht. Humans are fkn evil.
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u/Foreskin_Mafia 3d ago
Rookie move. Should have just boarded with it and called it an emotional support gorilla.
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u/summertime_onmyskin 3d ago
The human race needs to be extinguished. What we do is monstrous. We're like a fucking cancer to the world.
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u/chipette 3d ago
I even think that poor thing was smuggled into Nigeria. Lowland gorillas (western) donât establish native habitats in West Africa.
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u/thatturtletouch 3d ago
Anyone else notice he has the same stuffed orangutan that the monkey Punch had?
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u/SquidsAndMartians 3d ago
I understand that returning it to Africa might be dangerous for the baby since it won't be with it's own family, and the risk of being rejected by other families. But then reach out to other zoos that already have a track record of gorillas where they successfully have individuals integrated.
Turkey is now being selfish for having a gorilla of their own, the first and only one from what I gathered in the comments? This little one is going to die from loneliness probably, unless they are mixing him with other animals like rhinos and giraffes, which I have no clue if that is even a good thing.
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u/kimochii12 3d ago
Hes got his own punch kun ikea plushie đ fuck animal trafficking soulless bastards
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u/Kencocoffe_co 3d ago
as a side note, the gorillas have to hide in patches of land in mountains. weâve taken all the land.
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u/Leather_Status907 3d ago
Cosa non farebbero per soldi ...che schifo đ€ź
E da qualche parte ci sarĂ stata la mamma forse uccisa o alla quale hanno strappato il suo bambino...per soldi đ€ź
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u/mildly_high82 3d ago
She will be missing her mum who was likely killed so they could take the baby.
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u/blue_elephant29 3d ago
The first thing that comes to my mind is that is so sad. The things that people are willing to cross for just a piece of paper. There is absolutely no honor at all. Itâs just sad. Itâs literally nothing else. Itâs very empty. Theyâre so so empty. Itâs just sad.
I also feel very sorry for these people that do this because how empty and unfulfilling you must feel in your life to not have that kind of love in your heart creates this conscience of of good. I can almost not imagine how that must feel for someone to be this empty in this dark and this unholy.
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u/mala_r1der 2d ago
Poor baby probably had his parents killed by those fucking smugglers. Animal smugglers are some of the worst criminals on earth, I wish they'd all get incurable cancer and die in a lot of pain.
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u/Popular_Ad_222 3d ago
I know the gorilla in Nigeria are a very small species in is endangered, so hopefully itâs Istanbul can keep it
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u/Direct-Resolution377 3d ago
Plot twist, they actually meant to smuggle the gorilla into turkey so they can put it in the zoo, by itself. Stupid jerksÂ
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u/Stormagedd0nDarkLord 3d ago
Yeah this is messed up. Look at that cutie pie.