Rihanna found out the hard way that it’s all fun and games until the monkey peddler goes to the Pokey. Visiting a beach in Thailand, Rihanna left behind a trail of racy tweets and incriminating Instagram photographs that led police to arrest two people for allegedly peddling protected primates. On a break from her Diamonds world tour, she stopped at Phuket for a little R and R and wildlife bonding.
Yahoo reports that she posted a link on Twitter to an Instagram photo that showed her in sunglasses snuggling up to a furry primate called the slow loris. The slow loris, a squirrel-like animal with big eyes, is native to Southeast Asia and is apparently listed as a protected species. Rihanna tweeted Friday:
Look who was talkin dirty to me! #Thailand #nightlife http://t.co/V0fT4PfSrQ
— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 20, 2013
Apparently this is a big issue as a statement was made by Thailand authorities: “Phuket authorities were alerted to the picture (of Rihanna), and last night police arrested the two individuals who brought out the loris as a photo opportunity for tourists,” a Phuket district chief, Weera Kerdsirimongkon, said by telephone Sunday.
Weera said authorities have tried for many years to crack down on vendors exploiting wildlife, particularly in popular tourist areas where people are willing to pay to have their picture taken with elephants, orangutans and other animals. “It’s like a cat-and-mouse game. But this time it’s bigger because a celebrity like Rihanna posted the picture, and there were more than 200,000 ‘likes’ from around the world,” he said.
Police confiscated two lorises from the pair of primate-nabbers, one a 20-year-old man and the other, a 16-year-old boy. They could face charges of possession of protected animals. The charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison and a 40,000 baht ($1,300) fine.
Image via wikipedia
