Gone are the days where lovers would carve their names into trees. That’s just too yesterday.
Now they turn to 1,000 kg mammals as symbols of everlasting love.
Scratched Names into Rhino
Zoos are popular because they allow us to be close to and observe animals we would never be able to otherwise. Like, for example, we love going to the Singapore Zoo to look at our boss.
One French zoo makes this experience even more intimate.
In La Palmyre zoo in Royan in southwestern France, animal lovers can touch the creatures when they approach the fence of their enclosure.
The zoo wants visitors to have a “moving experience” which would allow them to appreciate “the diversity and beauty of nature”.
Unfortunately, tourists are not known for their courtesy and decorum, so this presented an opportunity for them to showcase their stupidity.
Scratching The Rhino’s Back
On Wednesday (Aug 21), the staff at the La Palmyre zoo discovered that two visitors had scratched their names into the back of a female rhinoceros with their fingernails.
Photos of the 35-year-old rhinoceros with the names ‘Julien’ and ‘Camille’ went viral on social media and netizens were incensed by the actions of the two.
Response
The French zoo condemned the act, saying in a statement that they were “outraged by the stupidity and disrespect” of the visitors”.
They added that they would not be taking legal action, however.
The zoo’s director, Pierre Caille, said: “Someone scratched the superficial layer of dead rhinoceros skin with a fingernail. It’s totally disrespectful, but the rhinoceros did not even notice what happened, and she did not suffer.”
While the zoo said most visitors touch the rhino “respectfully”, French wildlife protection charity Le Biome said it “fell short of standards” for allowing “this type of interaction”.
However, despite this incident, Caille said the zoo will still allow visitors to touch the animals unless they notice a “degradation” of the rhinoceros’ behaviour.
Prevention
The La Palmyre director also promised to take measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
“We will strengthen the presence of our caretakers in the park. We will ensure that this does not happen again”, he said.
He added that La Palmyre would consider installing video surveillance in certain areas, but “doesn’t want cameras everywhere”.
One netizen used this incident as an example to illustrate the cruelty of zoos, tweeting: “Another example why zoos and circuses with animals should go.”
“Only in zoos, a Rhino can be approached as if it was a domesticated animal”.
They may have a point. It’s a little contradictory to be outraged at the mistreatment of a rhinoceros when you’re keeping them in an enclosure.
Release all these creatures into the wild, I say, where they can be free of sharp-nailed tourists and small enclosures.
Oh, wait. Maybe not. That’d mean our boss would be free.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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