Tell Woolworths to Stop Supporting Monkey Abuse in the Thai Coconut Industry

Despite having known for years about the rampant use of monkey labour in the Thai coconut industry – and after a recent PETA Asia investigation implicated coconut milk suppliers across Thailand in monkey abuse, despite their assurances – Woolworths is still refusing to do the right thing by moving its coconut milk supply chain out of Thailand.

In New Zealand, where Woolworths operates as Countdown, supermarket Pak’nSave has already stopped stocking coconut milk from these farms. However, Woolworths has yet to act.

Watch the latest investigative footage, and take action by urging Woolworths to remove Thai coconut milk from its supply chain.

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PETA Asia’s Third Investigation Into Thai Monkey Labour

PETA Asia’s third investigation into Thailand’s coconut industry has revealed that chained monkeys are still being forced to spend long hours climbing tall trees and picking heavy coconuts. In response to international criticism following the release of PETA Asia’s two previous related investigations, the Thai government and companies that make coconut products have claimed that monkeys are no longer used in the making of exported products – but PETA Asia’s most recent investigation confirmed that rampant abuse of primates is continuing to go unchecked and that Thai coconut industry insiders are deliberately hiding monkey labour in their supply chains.

Monkeys Are Still Kidnapped, Chained, and Abused in Thailand

In nature, macaques live in large groups with strict hierarchies and an intense focus on social relationships. But at one of the facilities investigated, juvenile monkeys to be trained for coconut picking were caged and kept away from other members of their own species. At another facility, investigators saw a chained female monkey who was also kept away from other macaques with no food or water nearby and little access to shade.

Monkeys in training are kept chained with rigid metal collars around their necks. Handlers use intimidation and abuse to teach them to obey. Investigative footage shows one trainer striking a monkey, dangling him by the neck, and then whipping him with the tether.

Take Action

Please sign below to urge Woolworths to stop supporting this cruel industry by refusing to use coconut milk from Thailand.

You may use the provided text, but your message will carry more weight if you write your own customised message and subject line. Personalised letters always work best.

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Anna Playfair-Hannay
Group Sustainable Animal Welfare Manager, Woolworths

Dear {contact_data~firstName} {contact_data~lastName},

I was appalled to learn that your company has been exposed for using coconut milk from Thailand, where threatened and endangered monkeys are still being abused and forced to pick coconuts. As PETA Asia’s third and latest investigation into the Thai coconut industry proves, there’s no way to ensure that Thai supply chains are free of monkey labour – despite assurances to the contrary from companies that sell coconut milk.

Monkey-training facilities often pay farmers to capture these animals as babies, which is typically illegal, and either confine them to small, barren cages or keep them chained with rigid metal collars around their necks. Through intimidation and physical abuse, they are coerced into obeying their handlers and are then sold to coconut pickers – who force them to spend long hours climbing tall trees and picking heavy coconuts. They can break bones when handlers jerk them violently to the ground. When they aren’t being forced to work, they’re kept tethered, often without food, water, or protection from the elements.

Instead of working towards a transition to monkey-free harvest methods – such as planting smaller trees whose coconuts are easier to reach – farmers, brokers, manufacturers, and the Thai government are working to mislead consumers. One broker admitted to PETA Asia investigators that with no oversight, coconut pickers simply lie. Brokers continue buying coconuts picked by monkeys and selling them to companies that make coconut products. These companies and the government adhere to an “audit system” that relies primarily on the coconut producers’ word.

The coconut industry uses both northern and southern pig-tailed macaques to harvest coconuts. Both species are considered globally threatened, with decreasing populations. In fact, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List – a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity – just relisted southern pig-tailed macaques as endangered.

It’s time for you to do right by the threatened and endangered monkeys being exploited in the coconut trade by moving Woolworths’ supply chain out of Thailand immediately.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}
{user_data~EMail Address}

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Tell Woolworths to Stop Supporting Monkey Abuse in the Thai Coconut Industry

PETA Asia’s Third Investigation Into Thai Monkey Labour

Monkeys Are Still Kidnapped, Chained, and Abused in Thailand

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