Pata Zoo has dismissed as groundless media reports that it is going to sell its only remaining gorilla for about 30 million baht.

The private zoo, which is located on the 6th and 7th floors of Pata Pinklao department store, said in a statement today (Saturday) that the zoo has never held talks with any organisation or individual over the sale of their female gorilla, named Bua Noi, which has been with the zoo since it was brought into Thailand from Germany about 30 years ago, when it was three-years-old.

Bua Noi and another male gorilla were imported for exhibition at the zoo in 1992. It has been the only gorilla in the country since Thailand signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The zoo said that it had earlier rejected a proposal from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to have Bua Noi transferred elsewhere, because it was concerned that the old animal may not adapt to a new environment after 30 years at Pata Zoo.

Even though the zoo has sustained financial losses for the past several years, it has never intended to sell the gorilla.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service