Jailed For Caring
A Wildlife Rescuer Pleads for Mercy


Oh yea, oh yea, oh yea, devastating news has broken out:
Founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, Edwin Wiek was jailed on Friday 10th July for caring about a chimpanzee named Canoe who had been locked in a 2m.30cm x 1m.40cm breadth x 1m.80cm depth cage for 32 years.
Supporters of the chimp reported the founder after seeing him traveling down a highway with the caged animal on the back of a truck believing he was about to commit an awful crime. Mr Wiek was handed over to the governing authorities who would hear nothing of his appeals and jailed the man without trial or representation.
Edwin protested over and over that he was only trying to help the chimp escape his hell, but the authorities were hell bent on locking him up for his wildlife antics.


Article written by Jonathan Fleming.


Jailer, Tom Taylor said, “this man will only get out if he can raise bail money of $25,000 US, which is the cost of feeding 780 animals large and small, for three months during the COVID-19 pandemic, from slow lorises and birds, to 25 elephants and a number of drop bears (which nobody has ever seen) .”

Without support the founder was sure to perish in the cage he was pushed into as the authorities vowed to throw away the key. Edwin, however, retorted that he did have support and that if the authorities threw away the key, someone would bring him bolt cutters or whatever it took to get him out.
With that statement the authorities stepped up their security and kept a 24/7 guard on him by webcam.

A group of hackers calling themselves the ‘Canoe Freedom Fighters’ broke into the authorities servers and started a live video stream on Facebook to help Edwin raise the funds needed to get him out. The hackers were relentless for four days pushing Edwin’s plea around the world to people wanting to know why they should help him.

Edwin Wiek The founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), Edwin Wiek.
Picture by: Andrea Arnold
Edwin told the supporters, “I met Canoe over 30 years ago and I wanted to get him out of his situation back then, but I didn’t have the authority. I persisted however and eventually managed to convince the people that were holding him to let him go with me. I obviously could not take Canoe out of his cage at that stage, so I turned up in a truck with a crane on board. I made sure Canoe’s cage was reinforced so that he would not escape during the journey and then hoisted it onto the back of the truck.
During the return journey to the rescue centre, I got strange looks from people as I was in the back of the truck, with Canoe in his cage, to ensure he wasn’t frightened or traumatized with what was going on. At that point Canoe could not have realised that I was rescuing him to give him a better life and nor could the onlookers, but I did wonder if I would get stopped or approached by the authorities and of course I did, but not until a few months later after rehoming Canoe in a large enclosure where he is free to roam and climb and build his muscle tissue up after having been sat for so long.” Media Scrum The press pack get their pictures and stories together about the chimp locked up for 32 years
Picture by: wfft.org

Edwin continued, “It was during the third month of being in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that everything started to go wrong. WFFT lost 85% of its funding since no tourists were allowed in the country and those that were in it had to return to their own countries, yet Thailand is a country whose economy is built on tourism as is WFFT’s volunteer programme. This meant a huge problem for the rescue centre in that we now had limited staff to feed all the animals, no income to buy food and we had a load of new projects on the go as well. I had to think of something and decided that Canoe was going to be the talisman to help feed the 780 animals we have to care for on a daily basis.“
In explaining the issue further, Edwin said, “I have always seen it as being wrong to cage wildlife animals as pets or to keep them for exploitation in tourism which happens to millions of wild animals all around the world.”

With that report going out on the live Facebook video stream by the hackers, his supporters rallied around him sending the funds he needed to banks in the Netherlands, Thailand and through a PayPal account. The authorities got wind of this and tried to stop the hackers, but failed and resorted to trying to humiliate Mr. Wiek by making him wear a woman’s dress (Thai style), putting him in wigs, hosing him down by water cannon and making him sing karaoke songs in the hope he would torture his supporters ears and they would stop their donation drive. Basically, the founder was treated like a caged animal. Oh wait, he was a caged animal of the homo sapien type.

The punishment didn’t last long as his supporters managed to raise the $25,000 US in just four days and he was released from his captors.

The authorities jailer, Tom Taylor said, “I didn’t expect him to raise such a huge amount in such a short time”, and added, “the people who have been supporting him ‘know not what they have done releasing such a dangerous animal’, I’m sure this will not be the last time we’ll be seeing Mr. Wiek locked up for wildlife and I can’t wait until justice prevails.” Before he departed from his interview Tom left Mr Wiek a menacing message as he lifted his hand to the reporter with the sound of a jingle jangle and made it clear, “Mr. Wiek, I’ll be waiting for you, just remember, I have the keys”.

The Prison The cage where Edwin was held captive is the same cage that Canoe was held in for 32 years
Picture by: wfft.org
After his release Edwin Wiek, thanked all the people who supported and funded him for his release and went immediately to see his partner in crime, Canoe, to apologise for all the years of hurt and confinement that he was put through by his fellow man. He did so on behalf of all those who helped raise funds for his release which he will now use to keep the animals of WFFT fed and cared for over the next three months.

The defunct jailhouse, which is actually Canoe’s old home, will now be used as a virtual studio where Canoe’s freedom fighters can legally operate from, spreading the word about WFFT’s wants and needs, and it will alternate as an experience for volunteers and visitors to be locked in for a fleeting moment to feel what it is like to be contained in the very cage that Canoe had to live in for all that time — 32 years, verses Edwin’s 4… days.

This has been a “Not The Totally Fake News!” entertainment article by Charity Needs Foundation, but...


THESE REALLY ARE THE TRUTHS



  1. Edwin Wiek is the founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT)

  2. Canoe did live the 1M.40cm x 2M.30cm x 1M.80cm high cage for 32 years before being rescued by WFFT

  3. A fund of $25,000 US was raised in four days

  4. Edwin did meet Canoe a long time ago and did try to get his release back then

  5. Edwin did have to reinforce canoes cage for the journey and did turn up with a truck and crane

  6. WFFT has lost 85% of its revenue stream due to COVID-19 and needs funding support

  7. Edwin did get strange looks sitting with a chimpanzee on the back of a truck

  8. WFFT do have 780 animals to feed on daily basis at a cost of $40,000 US per month

  9. Edwin has always been against people keeping wildlife in cages as pets or for exploitation in tourism

  10. Edwin did go and apologize to Canoe for all the years of hurt and confinement he suffered because of his fellow man.

  11. The cage will be used for a studio as well as an experience for volunteers and visitors to be locked in.

  12. The event was a live fundraiser that proved to be very successful. Congratulations to WFFT for a well executed campaign.

  13. The videos are recordings of the real live fundraiser — all four days of it.


Everything else is just made up from the imagination of a vivid mind.
We hope you had some fun with it.
#NotTheTotallyFakeNews


Video 1, Day 1 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 1 — Day 1, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@40:10-45:17 — What Edwin Is Most Worried About
@1:59:30-2:00:00 — How WFFT is Getting By Without Volunteers
Video by: wfft.org
Video 2, Day 1 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 2 — Day 1, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@7:10-9:29 — Illegal Wildlife Trade During COVID-19
@11:02-13:57 — The Cost And Seriousness Of It All
@2:29:31 — No Thai Government Support
Video by: wfft.org
Video 3, Day 1 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 3 — Day 1, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
Video by: wfft.org
Video 4, Day 2 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 4 — Day 2, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@43:20-46:24 — The Worst Rescues
@3:36:51 — Tom Taylor Caged With Edwin
Video by: wfft.org
Video 5, Day 2 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 5 — Day 2, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@0:00 — Humiliated In A Dress
@2:45 — The Wig
@2:52:20 — A Hosing Down
Video by: wfft.org
Video 6, Day 3 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 6 — Day 3, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@40:56 — Tom Taylor’s Second Lockup In Cage
@3:15-3:57:30 Singing
@4:28-4:33:15 Interview,
@5:13 Hosed Down Again (on TV)
@5:54:00 — Edwin In Thai Style Dress and Wig
@6:54:12 — Another Victim Lockeup With Edwin — Beau (manages WFFT’s eco-lodge and day trips)
Video by: wfft.org
Video 7, Day 3 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 7 — Day 3, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@14:15 Shaun Kemp In Cage With Edwin
Video by: wfft.org
Video 8, Day 4 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 8 — Day 4, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
Video by: wfft.org
Video 9, Day 4 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 9 — Day 4, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@1:07:46 — What Edwin Will Do When Released
@1:09:42 — What Edwin Will Do With The Cage
@1:28:36 — The Realisation That The Mission Was Complete.
@1:35:21 — The Jailer, Tom Taylor, Releasing Edwin
Video by: wfft.org
Video 10, Day 4 — WFFT Live Recording
Video 10 — Day 4, WFFT fundraiser, Lock Him Up! (and throw away the key!).
@0:00 — Out of the cage saying sorry to Canoe for his years of confinement
Video by: wfft.org




This is a CNF Feature Article

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Opening Image Info:

Head/Cover picture by: wfft.orgt
Head/Cover image description: Holding onto the bars of his confinement for the last time. Canoe in the cage that held him for 32 years

Article Details:

Article written by: Jonathan Fleming
Article edited by: Charity Needs Foundation
Article Length: Words count is 1691 from 8263 characters
Released — 15th-July-2020 at 8:45
Modified — Never

Closing Credits from CNF:

  • A Thank You to Edwin Wiek:
    Charity Needs Foundation would like to thank Edwin Wiek and all the staff at WFFT for being such great sports and having a wonderful sense of humour which inspired us to write an off the cuff playful piece containing 'Not So Totally Fake News'. Thanks.

Footnotes:

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