It is not humans who smoke in Indonesia, but animals too! Video of a smoking orangutan from the country is going viral. The footage shows the animal picking up a cigarette butt and puffing it like a regular. The cigarette was flicked into the zoo enclosure by a visitor after smoking a little. The video has caused outrage among animal lovers and animal activists who are questioning the zoo authorities' sheer carelessness. As per reports, it is not the first time, the 22-year-old orangutan was spotted smoking nicotine. Bornean orangutan Ozon is at Bandung zoo, about 150 kilometers southeast of Jakarta.

Reportedly, the Indonesian zoo is infamous for mistreatment of animals. After the video was shared widely on social media, animal activists are slamming the zoo authorities for not following rules and regulations of a zoo. Indonesia has one of the world's highest smoking rates and bad record at animal protection. In 2012, an ape at another zoo in the country became a nicotine addict after picking up butts thrown into its enclosure by visitors. It was later forced to quit the addiction.

Watch Orangutan smoking cigarette here:

An AFP report quoted Bandung zoo spokesman on Wednesday said that while it was a regrettable incident, it was the responsibility of the staff to guard the enclosure. He also said that the officer responsible may have gone to the bathroom at that time. The report quoted spokesman Sulhan saying, "There's actually a sign at the location which says visitors are not allowed to give food and cigarettes to the animals."

AFP quoted Marison Guciano, founder of the Indonesia Animal Welfare Society as saying, "Weak control by zoo management also needs to be addressed. But the root of the problem is that we do not have animal welfare standards at zoos. Almost all zoos are in poor condition... from the cages and feeding needs to the animals' health." The zoo sparked controversy last year after videos of skeletal bears begging for food from visitors went viral.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2018 09:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).