This chimp at a North Korea zoo smokes a pack of cigarettes a day
If you go to the zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea, there's a chance you'll see a chimpanzee puffing on a cigarette. Officials at the zoo say a chimp named Azalea smokes about a pack a day.
Now, Azalea didn't pick up this bad habit on her own — the zoo actually provides the chimp with the cigarettes and a lighter, as a trick for visitors to ogle. The chimp, however, handles lighting it up all on her own. She can reportedly use either a lighter or a lit cigarette.
Officials insist the chimpanzee doesn't actually inhale, but still, animal rights activists are none too pleased about the trick. "How cruel to willfully addict a chimpanzee to tobacco for human amusement," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement to Time.
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The zoo, which was recently reopened after renovations, also features a dog pavilion that includes German shepherds and Shih Tzus, a monkey that can slam dunk a basketball, and dogs trained to look like they're making calculations on an abacus.
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