Meet Azalea, the smoking chimp and new star at Pyongyang zoo

The 19-year-old female ape lights her own cigarettes and is a draw with the visitors.

Updated - December 01, 2016 06:52 pm IST - PYONGYANG (NORTH KOREA):

Azalea, a 19-year-old female chimpanzee, lights a cigarette at the Central Zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday. According to officials at the renovated zoo, which has become a favourite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it was re-opened in July, the chimpanzee smokes about a pack a day.

Azalea, a 19-year-old female chimpanzee, lights a cigarette at the Central Zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday. According to officials at the renovated zoo, which has become a favourite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it was re-opened in July, the chimpanzee smokes about a pack a day.

Pyongyang’s newly opened zoo has a new star — Azalea, the smoking chimpanzee.

According to officials at the newly renovated zoo, which has become a favorite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it re-opened in July, the 19-year-old female chimpanzee, whose name in Korean is “Dallae,” smokes about a pack a day. Dallae is short for azalea.

They insist, however, she doesn’t inhale.

Does it with finesse

Thrown a lighter by a zoo trainer, the chimpanzee lights her own cigarettes. If a lighter isn’t available, she can light up from a lit cigarette if one is tossed her way.

Though such a sight would draw outrage in many other locales, it seemed to delight visitors who roared with laughter on Wednesday as the chimpanzee, one of two at the zoo, sat puffing away as her trainer egged her on. The trainer also prompted her to touch her nose, bow thank you and do a simple dance.

She is pulling in visitors

The zoo is pulling in thousands of visitors a day with a slew of attractions ranging from such typical fare as elephants, giraffes, penguins and monkeys to a hi-tech natural history museum with displays showing the origins of the solar system and the evolution of life on Earth.

Another of the most popular attractions that might come as a surprise to foreign visitors is the dog pavilion, which has everything from German shepherds to Shih Tzus. The zoo also has performances featuring other animals trained to do tricks, including a monkey that slam dunks basketballs, dogs trained to appear as though they can do addition on subtraction on an abacus and doves that fly around and land on a woman skating on an indoor stage.

Renovations for the new zoo began in 2014, as part of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s efforts to create more modern and impressive structures and leisure centres around the capital. The zoo actually dates back to 1959, when Kim Il Sung, the nation’s first leader and the grandfather of Kim Jong Un, ordered it built on the outskirts of the city.

According to its official history, the zoo started off with only 50 badgers.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.