'Distressed' bears caught rocking back and forth inside enclosure at Thai zoo

'Distressed' bears rock back and forth against the concrete walls of their enclosure.

The Asian Black Bears were filmed at a zoo in Thailand that animal rights activists are battling to have closed down.

Footage from August 4 shows them appearing to be stressed as the slap their paws against the steep walls while looking up at the visitors overhead.

Some of the bears were also bouncing from side to side as they leaned against the concrete, unable to clamber up to freedom.

The Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo sparked outrage last December when footage emerged of a painfully thin elephant being forced to perform tricks for crowds.

Since then, animal rights groups including PETA have pressured tour companies to stop taking holidaymakers to the enclosure just south of Bangkok.

Chinese firm Ctrip - Asia's biggest online booking agency that handles millions of holidaymakers a year - ditched the zoo and stopped selling tickets to the facility last week. The firm owns Skyscanner, Trip, and Tours4fun.

Campaigners hope that by targeting customers and tour providers, they can halt the demand for such attractions, which they say leads to the suffering of animals.

PETA announced this week that Ctrip would now stop selling tickets to the zoo and called on other tour operators to follow.

Spokesman Jason Baker said: ''Ctrip did the right thing in nixing tickets to this despicable, abusive, brazen operation. PETA is calling on all travel companies still offering excursions to such facilities to follow Ctrip’s compassionate, business-savvy example and strike exploitative businesses from their itineraries.''

The zoo houses crocodiles, elephants, bears, chimpanzees, tigers and other animals. It has received criticism for the cruel treatment of the animals, which appear to be distressed and sometimes malnourished.

Elephants are still present at the zoo and have to perform daily routine performances like knocking over skittles and standing on stools for a handful of visitors in the concrete arena.

PETA said that the ''zoo handlers jabbed elephants with sharp metal spikes and forced them to give rides and perform tricks such as bowling, painting, and dancing''.

The charity said that the elephants could not interact with each other and ''continuously swayed back and forth, a symptom of psychological distress''.