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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The launch of the world’s first weight-loss pillSpeed Read Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have been racing to release the first GLP-1 pill
-
Maduro’s capture: two hours that shook the worldTalking Point Evoking memories of the US assault on Panama in 1989, the manoeuvre is being described as the fastest regime change in history
-
Six sensational hotels to discover in 2026The Week Recommends From a rainforest lodge to a fashionable address in Manhattan – here are six hotels that travel journalists recommend for this year
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees