THIS is the horrific moment a monkey was bound and hooded in a mock execution at a Chinese “fantasy city”.
Appalling footage shows a macaque fitted with a metal muzzle, dressed in a yellow vest and forced to kneel on the ground in front of a crowd full of children.
The unidentified man directing the show the covers the monkey’s head with a black cloth and ties its arms behind it to a plastic pipe.
He then pretends to shoot the poor animal with a prop gun before it drops to the ground as part of the act.
Another monkey can be seen tethered by a long rope around its necks, with two others in the background tied up with cables.
Outraged viewers distressed by the video immediately cried animal abuse.
The shocking incident, which happened at Longquan Ancient Town · Drama Fantasy City in Hebei Province, China on February 22, prompted a wave of complaints.
Three days late, staff told swarming media outlets that the monkey act was run by an outsourced performance team.
They claimed that the show was only provided by the venue, but that there was no day-to-say involvement from management.
After being overwhelmed by complaints, the tourist town’s top brass said it had terminated the performer’s contract.
Customer service representatives confirmed the show had been removed from the programme.
Officials from the Luquan District Culture, Radio, Television, Sports and Tourism Bureau launched a probe after becoming aware of the public outcry.
Longquan Ancient Town has operated since 2002 and focuses on preserving historic buildings relocated from several provinces across China.
In February 2021, it was named one of Hebei Province’s “Top Ten Cultural Industry Projects” for 2020.
It comes after an army of 100 monkeys went bananas and threw themselves down a mountain in front of shocked tourists.
Incredible video shows the wild primate panic as scores of macaques surge in a staggering simian stampede.
Helpless tourists can be seen hunkered down beneath a shelter as they watch the monkey mob go ape.
The macaque madness was caught on camera at Qianlingshan Park in China on November 24.
A tourist who filmed the scene said he had been riding the cable car up the mountain when he saw monkeys “everywhere”.
He said he believed there were nearly one hundred of them visible at once.
In the video, dozens of monkeys race downhill – with some sliding rapidly along cables overhead.
Others leap across barriers before charging towards the lower paths.
The filmer said the monkeys came from behind, above, and beside him.
As the other tourists were left hiding beneath a shelter, he claimed the monkey riot left his hairs standing on end.
Some one thousand wild macaques live in the area, according to park keepers.
They said the animals lived freely and moved around the mountains as part of their normal behaviour.
