Helpless monkeys are being tortured for views online in a sick wave of abusive YouTube videos.
Horrific cruelty of baby monkeys in particular can be seen to range from waterboarding to forcing them to painfully walk on their hind legs only.
Youtube channel Monkey Expert was set up last week in response to the evil trend, highlighting some of the very worst abuse primates are suffering in South East Asia.
In a rallying cry to “let the monkeys be monkeys”, the Monkey Expert says: “Many monkey channels go to extreme lengths for views, all at the expense of poor and helpless monkeys.
“Not all monkey channels are bad. I do believe that the ones that have been causing pain, or bringing harm to the monkeys must be called out.
“Let’s call out the abusers and highlight the good guys. No animal deserves to be disrespected or abused. Just be decent human beings, and let the monkeys be monkeys.”
A video shared by the channel Happy Monkey shows an infant with its front legs tied behind its back as part of bipedal training.
The poor animal is then filmed trying to move about before it finds food which its owners pulls out of its mouth.
Another distressing video shared by Monkey Expert was originally uploaded by the channel Phim Kinh Dien.
It shows a monkey chained around the neck to a tree being fed and teased with a hot chilli which leads to the animal desperately avoiding strangulation as it falls from its perch.
All the while someone behind the camera can be heard sniggering at the monkey’s discomfort.
The RSPCA is calling for a total ban on the keeping and trade of primates as pets because, the charity says: “They are wild undomesticated animals that cannot be house-trained or fully tamed.”
Another clip is by SODA Monkey, showing a baby monkey being tightly gripped and forced to shower under a highly pressured tap which Monkey Expert describes as “waterboarding”.
Despite the harsh treatment being exposed on the channel, many viewers are quick to dismiss it all as harmless.
“This is the most overly dramatic channel. This was in no way waterboarding. This is ridiculous. Every video you dramatize and exaggerate what is really happening,” one commented.
Another wrote: “When does the fabulous water boarding begin?”
Commenting on footage of a baby monkey resisting having its teeth brushed, one person said: “Didn’t your mother teach you to brush your teeth ? Jeez.”
Animal rights organisation PETA told the Sun Online: “YouTube existing policies should see these horrific channels taken down immediately, but their content moderation – and response to PETA – has been lacking.”
A YouTube spokeswoman told the same outlet: “YouTube guidelines prohibit content featuring violence – this includes animal abuse.
“Any flagged content found to violate our policies is removed from YouTube immediately.”