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Not His Fight
An orangutan exploited by the tourism industry, Thailand, 2025
Category - Humanity vs Nature
Dressed in boxing gloves, an orangutan raises his hand - not in victory, but on command. A symbol of strength, performed by one who never chose to fight. Trained to perform and stripped of his freedom, the picture of the orangutan in Safari World Bangkok in Thailand shows the unequal power relationship between humans and animals used for entertainment. Orangutans are highly intelligent and endangered primates that belong in the wild. Some are torn from their mothers at an early age and kept in isolation, disrupting their natural development. Trainers try to humanise these captive animals – dressing them up, making them perform through fear and punishment, turning them into props. Wildlife tourism is often marketed as harmless fun or cultural experience. But behind staged photos and animal shows lies a hidden reality of suffering and exploitation. What the audience sees is entertainment. What the animals experience is trauma.
300 mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens - 1/1250 sec at f/6.3 ISO 6400