A UN body has condemned the practice of celebrities posing with orangutans and chimpanzees in Instagram photos as an “ignorant and selfish act”.
Khloe Kardashian, Paris Hilton, James Rodriguez and Kid Ink have all been pictured with dressed-up primates in the Gulf region over the past two years.
The UN’s Great Apes Survival Partnership argue the images damage conservation efforts to protect the species because the public feels less empathy for apes who are dressed in clothes.
Douglas Cress, the programme’s coordinator, told The Independent that the controversial photos have reversed years of conservation work.
“In an age where computer-generated images can conjure up dragons and aliens and entire worlds that pass for real, why should any celebrity or actor or pop idol or athlete think that using live apes for their own entertainment is acceptable? It's not,” Cress said.
“It's an ignorant, selfish act that shows little regard for the real situation these orangutans and chimpanzees find themselves in, and the damage done to conservation projects is considerable”.
“To think that the millions of fans of Paris Hilton or Khloe Kardashian or James Rodriguez now find this behaviour acceptable undoes years of hard work by legitimate conservation programmes. Every orangutan selfie is like taking five steps back in the past,” Cress added.
Photos of Hilton with a dressed-up baby orangutan at the Saif Belhasas private zoo in Dubai first circulated in 2014. While in May 2015, Kardashian posted a photo of her cuddling an orangutan.
Last December, Real Madrid footballer Rodriguez posted a photo of himself with an orangutan in Dubai to his Instagram account. American rapper Kid Ink also uploaded a photo of himself with an orangutan dressed in baby clothes.
Rebuking these selfies, Cress pointed to research which proves people feel less sympathy for apes treated as pets.
“Studies show that the general public feels less empathy or urgency for apes they see in human clothes or treated as pets or playthings," he said. "And that's a huge disservice to apes — all of whom are already classified as “endangered” or “critically endangered”.
New research by GRASP reveals the shocking rise in the trafficking of orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas and other primates stolen from the wild to cater for Chinese circuses.
Representatives for Hilton, Kardashian, Rodriguez and Kid Ink did not immediately respond to request for comment.
