Graphic warning: Kiwi environmentalist Pete Bethune releases footage of cruel treatment of baby monkey in Brazil

Warning: Some readers may find this content distressing. 

Environmentalist Pete Bethune has shared gut-wrenching footage of animal procedures in Brazil.  

Mr Bethune was looking into the wildlife trade in the Amazon when he came across a distressed monkey tied to a tree, with his dead mother lying on the ground nearby. 

Mr Bethune believes the mother was being cooked in the pot below the monkey, causing the smoke. 

The translator tells Bethune in the video, "The first step to civilise the monkey is the smoke."

Mr Bethune adds that the smoke "subdues" the monkey and points out of the frame, "His mum is down there to calm him down." 

This content was released to 1 NEWS after Mr Bethune was stabbed in the port of Santander, Brazil.