In Thailand, chained and enslaved monkeys are employed to harvest coconuts. It is claimed that they live in horrific conditions. British supermarkets are being urged to pull the plug on these sources of coconut milk in the interests of animal welfare.
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Thailand is one of the world’s largest exporters of coconut milk. In the West it is growing in popularity. There is greater demand from vegans and people seeking alternatives to cow’s milk.
Animal advocates allege that thousands of endangered pigtailed macaques are employed like this. They climb the trees and picked the coconuts. They are either bred in captivity or taken from their mothers in the wild.
PETA has uncovered evidence of monkeys being chained, whipped and forced to spend long hours picking coconuts. This is an entirely unnatural behaviour.
PETA claims that the monkeys’ sharp teeth are often pulled out to stop them biting trainers. Monkeys live in social groups but in this work, they lack the opportunity for social behaviour.
In the UK, the supermarkets: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer’s and Morrisons sell tinned coconut milk from Thailand. PETA says that it is impossible to know if these products have not been harvested with enslaved monkeys.
In response, the Thai government has introduced a certification scheme. Farms can apply for ‘monkey-free plus’ status. It’s at an early stage.
A representative of the British Retail Consortium, De Salis, which is a mouthpiece for the supermarkets said that they were engaging with the Thai government to address this concern.
Waitrose said that they support PETA’s goal to end this animal cruelty. They claim to have strict measures in place to make sure that monkey enslavement and abuse is not used in the supply chain.
Tesco has its own brand coconut milk and they claim that they do not use monkey labour in its production.
Morrisons and Sainsbury’s said that they were thinking along the same lines as the British Retail Consortium. The Times approached Marks & Spencer for a comment.
