Russian boxer, 24, shares vape with orangutan in safari park, expelled from fight club

A 24-year-old Russian professional boxer has come under fire for sharing her e-vaporiser (vape) with a caged orangutan in a Crimea zoo on Jun. 30.

The boxer, Anastasia Luchkina, has since been expelled from her fight club after a video of her at the Taigan safari park went viral, according to Russia news outlet Izvestia.

The clip

In a 48-second clip circulated on social media, Luchkina could be seen taking a puff from her vape before pushing it through the bars to an orangutan.

The orangutan then took a puff as well, before Luchkina retrieved the vape and used it herself.

She let the orangutan take at least two more puffs as it waited at the cage.

On one such attempt, the orangutan appeared to have retained a vape component in its mouth.

Before Luchkina could remove it, the orangutan swallowed the item.

One such clip shared to X has garnered more than 7.5 million views as of Jul. 4.

Suspected to have swallowed vape component

The orangutan named Dana, said to be the only one of its kind in Crimea, was sluggish after the incident and was suspected to have swallowed a vape component, The New York Post reported, citing local media.

Dana has reportedly lived in the safari park since 2018.

Experts told local media that following the incident, Dana lost its appetite, refused to interact with people, and would lie motionless throughout the day.

It was suspected to have swallowed the vape cartridge, which contains nicotine liquid.

All three species of orangutan are critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

On Jul. 1, the zoo said that Dana had been given sorbents as treatment and an "improvement" had been noticed in her well-being.

Her coach and club director Vladimir Akatov initially told local media that he did not know Luchkina was a smoker.

On Jul. 2, Akatov provided an update that Luchkina had been expelled from the fight club that he ran.

Must have received a few too many knocks to the head: PETA

Luchkina's behaviour was also criticised by PETA's vice president for UK, Europe and Australia Mimi Bekhechi after the video went viral.

"Anastasia Luchkina must have received a few too many knocks to the head if she thinks it’s a lark to give an orangutan a vape," Bekhechi told SunSport.

Bekhechi also alleged that the Taigan safari park had a "shocking track record of negligence" and urged animal lovers to support programs to preserve natural habitats instead of "glorified prisons".

Luchkina has represented Russia at an international level before recently turning professional.

She has one professional boxing fight to her name, which she lost by unanimous decision.

Top image from @ColinRugg/X