A 12-year-old chimpanzee was heading to a sanctuary in Brazil on Monday, after animal rights workers, discovered him smoking cigarettes, to entertain visitors at a zoo in Lebanon.

Omega, who weighs about 60 kilograms, has never climbed a tree or seen other chimpanzees. But he often puffed on cigarettes that zoo visitors threw into his cage.

In his younger years, Omega was used to entertain diners at a local restaurant, and was made to smoke cigarettes or serve water pipes to customers. After getting older, he was locked up and taken to a zoo, where he lived in a small cage for the past 10 years.

The organizers of Omega's evacuation say it marks the first time a chimpanzee has been rescued in Lebanon, a country with virtually no animal protection laws.