Cambodian Officials Launch Investigation Into Cruel Treatment of Monkeys at Angkor Wat

Image: Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia. (photo by Lauren Breedlove)

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 5:00 PM ET, Wed April 10, 2024

YouTube influencers are being investigated by officials in Cambodia who say these individuals are abusing monkeys at Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site in order to draw viewers to their shows.

According to the Associated Press, YouTubers have been caught holding monkeys by the neck and dousing them with water, and playing with the genitals of monkeys - all on camera.

The behavior has become a growing problem as YouTube personalities looking for ever new ways to attract audiences and make money, according to the Associated Press.

“The monkey should be living in the wild, where they are supposed to be living, but the monkey nowadays is being treated like a domestic pet,” Long Kosal, spokesperson for APSARA, the Cambodian office that oversees the Angkor archaeological site, told the Associated Press.

“They’re making the content to earn money by having the viewers on YouTube, so this is a very big issue for us.”

Making matters worse, ASPARA does not have the enforcement authority to stop the YouTubers abhorrent behavior. But the organization has initiated an investigation about the cruel behavior toward animals with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture. As part of that effort evidence will be gathered so that legal action can be pursued against individuals who are considered the most serious abusers.

“If we can build a case, they will be arrested for sure,” Long Kosal told Associated Press. “Any animal abuser will be seriously punished by law in Cambodia.”

While YouTube and Facebook apparently take down any content that is graphic in nature, both platforms continue to allow countless videos of monkeys jumping and playing. And those videos attract enormous amounts of views, per Associated Press.

And while filming monkeys jumping and playing may seem harmless, it requires close interaction with the animals. And that alone leads to other challenges, according to animal-rights officials.

YouTubers regularly crowd the animals as well. Associated Press reported that on a recent day at the famous tourist attraction, about one dozen YouTubers, all young men, crowded around a small group of long-tailed macaques. The individuals were pushing closer and closer to a mother macaques who had a baby on her back, following her every movement.

Tourists feeding the monkeys in order to draw them closer to a camera also makes the animals dependent on handouts. And over time, the monkeys can eventually become aggressive toward tourists.

The investigation into the YouTubers abusive behavior is likely to be challenging, Long Kosal said. It is difficult to identify the individuals who physically abuse the animals while filming - as the camera operators rarely show their face. That reality, combined with the lure of easy money that can be had by developing a significant YouTube following, is making ASPARA’s effort to protect the monkeys especially difficult.

“This is the problem for us,” he said. “We need to find solid reasons which we can use against them not to make content by abusing the monkeys.”