Department store zoo animals trapped in an urban jungle

There is gorilla on the seventh floor of a department store in Bangkok. King Kong spends his days alone, moving little. There are no trees in his 15 by 10 metre concrete enclosure, just a tyre and a few ropes hanging from the low ceiling. He spends long hours sitting at the front of his pen, hands gripping the iron bars.



Ten metres away, a penguin is alone in an airconditioned pen, standing on tiles next to a pool of water, smaller than a bath. Just a few years ago there were a dozen penguins. Only this one survives. Bangkok's Pata Zoo sits atop the store on a busy road in the northern suburbs.

Crammed into cages and pens across two floors of the ageing building are more than 200 species - a menagerie of pythons, turtles, flamingos, monkeys, leopards, tigers, bears, and even a Shetland pony. From the rooftop enclosures, you can see the advertising billboards and office blocks next door, and hear the ceaseless traffic below. Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand director Edwin Wiek wants the zoo closed.



"Basically, it is an animal prison on top of a shopping mall,'' he said. "The space is too small, the animals have very little room, there is very little sunlight, the enclosures are dirty, they smell bad, and people are coming past all day, getting far too close to the animals, which makes the animals extremely stressed. In 200 steps you can see 50 different species. Most people know that this is not an acceptable way to keep animals. It is a hell for animals."

Full story with more photos here.