Zhora, Russian Chimp, Goes To Rehab For Booze Addiction

Zhora, a chimp in a Russian zoo, has become addicted to smoking and an alcoholic after visitors gave him too many "treats."

"We asked visitors not to give him [alcohol and cigarettes], but it was all in vain," the deputy head of Rostov zoo, Nadezhda Yeutushenko, said. Yeutushenko told Russian press that Zhora was kept behind three rows of fences, but visitors still managed to throw him alcohol and cigarettes.

Zhora has now been transferred to a different city for rehab treatment.

Zoo workers blamed visitors for Zhora's vices. "People laugh when they see an animal drinking [alcohol] and smoking," they said, "but vicious habits damage [the animal's] health, and many do not understand this."

Comments

[outnow]

09:59 AM on 02/28/2010

So why do we push cigs and booze to our children? For the money.

[bboyy]

05:42 PM on 02/27/2010

say hello to Lindsey for me

[jl4141]

12:41 PM on 02/27/2010

They tried to make me to to rehab,
I said WWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHH, YEEEEEEEEEE, OOOOOOOOOOHHH-OOH-OOOOOH, AAAAAAAAAH-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-AHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Halsey]

11:30 AM on 02/27/2010

OH MY GAWD...just read on enterainment tab here...Zhora will be on next seasons "Dr. Drew rehab show...what a circus..

[Halsey]

11:29 AM on 02/27/2010

Zhoro has annouced that after rehab, he will be running for Pres of Russia...ahhh..vodka..curse of the nation..but he'll be all the stronger for it..

(I just hope we don't see a photo of Zhoro...curbside on a Moscow winter...with a brown paper bag to his mouth)...

(p.s. I hate ALL zoos...animals in cages...even wonderful cages (like San Diego)...just make me sad...period..

[netzwerg]

03:34 AM on 02/27/2010

A smoking monkey? Awesome! I thought only Crusty the Clowns got one.

[Aranxa]

11:47 PM on 02/26/2010

So who are the real animals here?

[Clearing-Brush]

06:53 PM on 02/26/2010

When I saw "Ching goes to Rehab", my first thought was...Oh oh, Bush is on the sauce again.

[Wozzeck]

08:25 PM on 02/26/2010

X2

[TAIsabel]

06:28 PM on 02/26/2010

You just can't make this stuff up!

[CoronaDischarge]

05:03 PM on 02/26/2010

The Surgeon General's warning on the side of the packs about the risks of smoking weren't persuasive to the animal?

Personally I would be more concerned for the zoo being burned down from the matches they must have tossed him. Chimps can be mean drunks, and a chimp with a book of matches ...

[lightningbolt]

03:57 PM on 02/26/2010

Anybody who throws alcohol or cigarettes at an animal in a zoo should be arrested for animal cruelty.

[lmktacwa]

09:35 PM on 02/26/2010

well, it IS Russia. They generally tend to be a lot more liberal w/ their vices than in the USA. Not condoning it, its pretty disgusting. But I don't see Russia getting all bent out of shape over it. Obviously.

[winningticket]

11:35 AM on 02/27/2010

Well pardon me, but I do get out of shape when animals that can't speak on their own be half are subjected to such treatment from irresponsible humans. Chimps share 99% of human DNA. If that doesn't make humans take a second look on how that treat their fellow primate cousins, I don't know what will.

[MyVesta]

11:42 PM on 03/04/2010

If people think zoos in America are bad ... yes, just go to one in Russia or just about any other country outside of western europe.

Also, in every city I visited in the former soviet union, you still see "dancing bears" "performing" -- - beaten into it, teeth removed, sometimes claws removed ...

It's sad and disgusting beyond belief. America is probably the best place on earth for animals.

[SiberianRat]

03:07 PM on 02/26/2010

Horrifying.

[whirledgonecrazy]

03:06 PM on 02/26/2010

How about some "don't give booze, cigarettes or drugs to the animals" signs? Is that so freakin' hard?

[Tulka2]

05:21 PM on 02/26/2010

For some people, that would give them the idea.