Andy Serkis voices lonely chimp in PETA video

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes star Andy Serkis is monkeying around again for a new hard-hitting Peta video about a lonely chimp.
The actor has narrated a new promo calling for the release of an endangered ape, called Louie, from roadside zoo in Michigan.
Serkis also takes on the character of the monkey as he recounts his isolated life as a tourist attraction.
“Male chimpanzees like me usually stay with their families their entire lives, but I never even got to know mine,” says Serkis, as Louie, in the video. “Share my story, and tell the DeYoung Family Zoo to release me to an accredited sanctuary where I’ll finally be able to meet other chimpanzees and live the way I was meant to live.
“And please don’t support businesses that keep animals like me behind bars.”
The Lord of the Rings star felt compelled to sign up for the new PETA video campaign after spending time with apes in the wild as he researched his role as Caesar in 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes and its 2014 sequel.
“I’ve obviously over the years become very connected to stories and the lives of the great apes in our world, and this story really blew my mind,” he says. “The fact is that here we have a chimpanzee shipped to a small family zoo, where he’s now kept in a cage, completely isolated, unable to socialise, living a very lonely and miserable existence, and it just broke my heart.
“It’s the same as treating a human being that way, it really is.”
Earlier this month (Nov16), PETA activists sent an official notice to bosses at the DeYoung Family Zoo, where Louie and a second chimpanzee, Tommy, are apparently confined in isolation, notifying them of their intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which requires plaintiffs to inform potential defendants at least 60 days prior to legal action.
PETA officials contends that denying highly social primates the ability to lead active, stimulating lives and to engage in species-typical behavior constitute violations of the ESA, which makes it unlawful for chimpanzees to be harmed or harassed.
The animal rights organisation has offered to arrange for the transfer of both chimpanzees to an accredited sanctuary at no cost to the DeYoung Family Zoo.