Chain-smoking chimpanzee is North Korean zoo’s star attraction
- 8 years ago
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA — A 19-year-old female chimpanzee in North Korea has gained a reputation for a very nasty habit, but it’s paying off for her keepers quite handsomely.
Journalists from the Associated Press visited the Central Zoo in Pyongyang on October 19, photographing the smoking ape among many other staged media events put on in the Hermit Kingdom this week.
The chimp, named Azalea, smokes roughly a pack of cigarettes every day. She usually receives them from audience members who came to see her in action. The routine consists of a trainer shouting instructions and making hand gestures at Azalea. She is then thrown a lighter, and she lights the cigarette herself.
Some of the other acts at the zoo include dogs that can do math, and a monkey that can slam dunk a basketball.
In 2014, the great, magical, all-powerful Kim Jong Un ordered an upgrade for the Central Zoo, one of several efforts to erect more stunning, contemporary structures and leisure centers.
Journalists from the Associated Press visited the Central Zoo in Pyongyang on October 19, photographing the smoking ape among many other staged media events put on in the Hermit Kingdom this week.
The chimp, named Azalea, smokes roughly a pack of cigarettes every day. She usually receives them from audience members who came to see her in action. The routine consists of a trainer shouting instructions and making hand gestures at Azalea. She is then thrown a lighter, and she lights the cigarette herself.
Some of the other acts at the zoo include dogs that can do math, and a monkey that can slam dunk a basketball.
In 2014, the great, magical, all-powerful Kim Jong Un ordered an upgrade for the Central Zoo, one of several efforts to erect more stunning, contemporary structures and leisure centers.