Wildlife abuse by YouTube influencers in Cambodia is now so rife that authorities at a world heritage site in the country and the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture have opened up an investigation to combat the practices.
Angkor Wat, UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in northwestern Cambodia, is managed by an office called APSARA which has launched an investigation aimed at gathering evidence to pursue legal action against the worst abusers.
Feeding, handling, sex abuse and torture
Monkeys are a frequent target for content creators, who are accused not only of handling the creatures and feeding them an inappropriate diet which makes them aggressive and dependent on human handouts, but worse stunts too including sexual abuse of the animals – all for clicks.
While it is frowned upon, it is not illegal in Cambodia to film or even to feed the animals and therefore APSARA lacks the teeth to prevent the content creators approaching the animals. For those clicking and watching the videos on their devices, it is not always obvious how intrusive the creators have to be in order to film the animals.
Cambodia is not the only country where the practice is a problem and increasingly graphic and extreme footage is being created. In 2023, the BBC exposed a worldwide ring of people producing and sharing animal torture videos, resulting in the arrest of 20 people in the US and two in Indonesia.
But some of those filming think their footage is innocuous and are oblivious to the harm their content is causing. One 41-year-old YouTuber reported by CBS news said he hadn’t witnessed any abuse and did not think it was problematic to get so close to the creatures.
“The monkeys here are friendly,” he said. “After we take their pictures we give them food, so it is like we pay them for them giving us the chance to take their picture.”
But Long Kosal, an APSARA spokesperson challenged this view. “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,” said. “They’re making the content to earn money by having the viewers on YouTube, so this is a very big issue for us.”
With the footage posted freely on the internet, it might be believed that finding those guilty of the most serious abuse would be easy, but part of the problem is they rarely appear in front of the camera themselves. “If we can build a case, they will be arrested for sure,” Long Kosal added. “Any animal abuser will be seriously punished by law in Cambodia.”
