Menagerie on Top Floors of Thai Department Store

December 2004

Bwana the gorilla

"Albino" monkey

Before and during the October 2004 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES, the IPPL team made two visits to investigate the "zoo" at the Pata Department Store in Thonburi on the outskirts of Bangkok.

We were appalled to find so many animals living on the sixth and seventh floors of the crowded department store. The place was extremely noisy and unbearably hot and humid. The unfortunate animals were housed in sub-standard and, in many cases, unsanitary housing.

Among the animals living on top of the department store were two gorillas, several orangutans, chimpanzees, and two species of gibbons. In addition the zoo held mandrills, lemurs, and rare leaf monkeys. It also held large cats and bears. All the animals looked bored and most seemed depressed.

History of Pata Zoo

Pata Zoo was founded in 1984. During that same year it acquired its first gorilla who was named Bwana. The origin of this animal is unclear. In 1987 a female infant gorilla was acquired. She was given the name Buanoi. The zoo purchased the animal from Siam Farm, an animal dealership run by a man named Daeng. This dealer was well known for his interest in albino animals, and the zoo is still breeding albino pigtail and long-tailed macaques.

The 1992 fire

In May 1992 a fire at Pata Zoo caused the deaths of the animals living on the sixth floor. Those on the top floor, including the primates, survived.

On 8 May 1992, the Bangkok Post expressed opposition to the zoo’s reopening in an article headed "Stop death cages from being filled again."

Tuesday’s fire at the Pata Department Store in Thon Buri would have been treated just like any fire in Bangkok, except for the fact that the store itself contains a small private zoo and that about 100 rare birds and small animals were killed in the blaze. Luckily, large animals such as the polar bear, the rare Bengal tiger, lions, orangutans, and a lowland gorilla narrowly survived the blaze... The poor creatures would not have had to undergo the tragic and harrowing ordeal in the first place, had they been left to roam free in their wild habitats, instead of being cruelly caged in a zoo located in a high-rise building.

Chimpanzee (left) and orangutans (right) in dismal cages

Apparently motivated solely by financial considerations, the Pata Department Store has, for years, defied the complaints of animal lovers and protests from international wildlife conservation organizations...

The authorities are to be blamed for the incident and for the very existence of the zoo... Private zoos in department stores or on hotel rooftops are akin to death traps. The premise itself signifies cruelty and inhumanity. How many more animals have to be hunted down, killed or snatched from their natural habitat just for the purpose of being caged in a private zoo and being stared at? How many more have a death warrant hanging over them, just waiting for the next disastrous fire?

In 1992, after learning that the zoo had obtained a second gorilla (a wild-caught female imported from Africa), IPPL called for the confiscation of the youngster after arranging for her to be accepted at the gorilla rescue center in the Congo Republic.

The zoo showed IPPL a purported "certificado de origen" issued to "Wabi Bello" for the export of one "mono gorilla" weighing 10 kilograms to "Siam Farm Zoological Garden, Bangkok, Thailand." The Iberia Air waybill identified the recipient as "Dr. Daeng, Pata Zoo, Bangkok." Despite Thailand’s being a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the young gorilla was not confiscated. Conditions for the animals apparently did not improve.

Gibbon enclosure

Young douc langur

Following a 2000 visit, former British zoo-keeper Richard Freeman commented,

On the roof of the building the mammals and birds are kept in truly appalling conditions. I am an ardent supporter of responsible zoos with good breeding programs - they are vital to save many endangered species. But slapdash holes like Pata zoo belong in the dark ages. Here gorillas, tigers, leopards, orangutans, and pigmy hippos were kept in enclosures the size of the average living room. Worst were the bears. Three sun bears and an Asian black bear in a bare concrete enclosure with no den or climbing facilities. It could not have been more than ten feet square. A woman was selling cakes to feed to them so their existence was nothing more than sleeping and begging. Ironically the zoo had some rare animals hardly ever seen in British zoos such as umbrella birds, Burmese ferret badgers, and yellow martins. These were totally wasted as exhibits in such a vile excuse for a zoo.

In February 2004, local Bang-Plad district officials inspected the zoo following public complaints. Amazingly, they saw no problems. According to the 28 February issue of the Nation,

Officials of Bangkok's Bang Plad district rushed to once-popular Pata Zoo yesterday following complaints that animals there were ailing and being kept in poor conditions. But they found none sick or ill housed. District office director Wiboon Noppakhun and Bang Plad councillor Jakkaphan Pornnimit led the inspection of the zoo on the upper floors of the Pata department store near the Pinklao Bridge. Contrary to complaints, they found no animals in poor health or being kept in foul-smelling conditions. The zoo was once popular with star attractions like penguins and bicycle-riding orangutans. The officials acted after zoo visitors snapped pictures of what they claimed were sick animals and posted them on the Internet, urging the facility's closure.

However, Roger Lohanan of the Thai Animal Guardians Association expressed concern about the zoo’s limited space, which prevented it from taking better care of its animals, and feared that the zoo could be a source of disease for Pata shoppers because it shares the ventilation system with the store.

Visitor reaches out to orangutans

Rare Javan leaf monkeys

How You Can Help the Rooftop Animals IPPL finds it appalling that Thailand allows caged animals to be maintained on top of a department store in what is clearly still a death-trap. In the event of another fire, there would be no escape for the animals and they would die horrible deaths. Further, we find the living conditions endured by the Pata Department Store animals totally unacceptable. Please send letters to the following Thai officials requesting that Thailand ban the keeping of wildlife in substandard facilities, especially in situations such as the top floors of high-rise buildings. Overseas members, please contact the Thai embassy in your country of residence. The addresses can be found at www.traveller2000.com/thailand/embassies_worldwide.htm H.E. Khun Suwit Khunkitti Minister of Natural Resources and Environment 92 Paholyothin Road Kwaeng Samsen, Payathai District Bangkok 10400, Thailand His Excellency H.E. Kasit Piromya Royal Thai Embassy 1024 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 401 Washington, D.C. 20007 USA Fax: (202) 944-3611

See related story - Wildlife Treaty Parties Meet in Thailand