The monkeys in clothes at the tip of an animal cruelty iceberg
(TW for discussion of animal abuse)
Reaction images are a popular staple of online culture, and in recent years primates have grown substantially in popularity. Orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys of all species have become the subject of online meme pages. Many of these pages, especially those run by self-described primate enthusiasts post images from accredited zoos and sanctuaries with individuals such as Shabani the gorilla, Kanzi the bonobo, Beni of orangutan jungle school fame, and others known for exhibiting amusing natural behaviour at the forefront.
[Image ID: A meme from monkey.posting of 2 photos on a white background with black text. The text reads: “*Our First Date*” With “Her” above a photo of a thin person with long dark hair wearing a white t-shirt and black mini skirt taking a mirror selfie with an iphone and “Me” above a photo of an adult orangutan with a blue blanket draped over its head. End ID]
Memes like this are widely enjoyed and harmless. The primates are engaging in natural behaviours, the pictures in the memes are primarily sourced from the social media accounts of zoos and sanctuaries, and the consumers of the memes are animal lovers. Further from the primate posters of Instagram and Tumblr, other primate pictures are used. These pictures more commonly depict monkeys in baby clothes, in urban settings, being fed by tourists, and grimacing or swatting. The original context for these pictures is lost, and they are reposted with relatable captions, like the image below.
[Image ID: a baby macaque in a fuzzy purple hoodie wearing lipstick, purple eyeshadow, and eyeliner with its eyes closed. The caption is overlayed and reads “i pretend i do not see it…….”. End ID]
What the average person who posts these reaction images sees is a funny picture, and with the rapid rate of posting and viewing the idea of interrogating the background of every meme and image you see online seems exhausting, and ridiculous. However, the one piece of context that connects every image of a primate in baby clothes is that these images all depict animal cruelty. Not only that, but the producers of these images are making money off of animal abuse.
Monkeys are extremely intelligent and have very demanding social, physical, and intellectual needs. No pet primate is living a life that can meet these needs, which would involve massive enclosures with diverse diets, many other monkeys to form relationships with, and daily enrichment. While some pet primate owners try to give their unfortunate and expensive pets the best life they can, on YouTube and other social media sites the algorithm rules and leads to dark places.
A regular viewer of monkey and ape videos will be recommended videos of pet primates at an increasing frequency, with abuse and neglect becoming more and more common. In a BBC article studying the online groups of dedicated “monkey haters“ whom delight in videos depicting the abuse and neglect of monkeys, the algorithmic pipeline towards animal abuse is documented: “Kapetanich saw monkeys dressed up in baby clothes, monkeys being bathed, forced to walk upright or do other unnatural tasks. Then the algorithm served her videos of monkeys being slapped and sprayed with water. These videos violated YouTube’s terms of service, so she reported them, but the platform didn’t seem to take any action.“ Without ever leaving YouTube or actively searching, a regular person was served videos of baby monkeys being abused. After continued viewership, YouTube recommended a video of baby monkeys being tortured. Most shocking of all, is that the comments on these videos are mostly supportive, with many suggesting torture methods they want to see in future videos. Some monkey haters are willing to pay, and contact pet primate owners who post videos of them scolding or pushing their monkeys with requests for more brutal punishments.
The BBC article is here for those who wish to read, but I warn against those sensitive to disturbing articles to avoid or do so with caution. While my mission stays on social media and the clear web, the article dives into the dark web and encrypted telegram groups where the most extreme animal abusers congregate. My point is not to disturb people, but to educate on how even innocent looking images of dressed up monkeys are the start of a pipeline that leads to animal abuse. In fact, many of the exact same monkeys start their lives as dress up candidates and end their lives before reaching adulthood, as their owners profit off their suffering.
What can you do?
No one likes to think that they are involved, even implicitly, in the suffering of others. Many critiques of reaction images featuring abused animals will be met with dismissals, that “it’s not that deep“. While it is not your fault that animals are being abused if you shared images of dressed-up monkeys online, using these images normalizes the most socially acceptable form of their mistreatment. There are small and simple changes to your online presence you can make to help:
Use reaction images of primates from wildlife photographers, zoogoers, and the social media accounts of high-quality zoos and sanctuaries.
Report images and videos of animal mistreatment you see on social media as animal cruelty.
Contact YouTube and other social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook to tell them that hosting animal abuse videos and images is unacceptable.
You don’t need to be an expert in primate welfare! Avoiding any photos where a primate is clothed is enough to reduce your chances of accidentally using images depicting abuse by a substantial margin. Being mindful, kind, and open to learning goes a long way.
