If you're at the zoo, just assume that "doing it for the 'gram" is always a bad idea. A zoo in China is investigating a viral video that shows a chimpanzee puffing a lit cigarette.
As detailed by The Straits Times, Nanning Zoo ensured that it would investigate whether the cigarette butt was purposefully thrown into its chimpanzee enclosure by a visitor. In general, disrespecting guidelines regarding behaviour around wild animals is a bad idea. Not to mention, it may be fatal.
Ignoring rules about how to engage with animals at places like zoos and national parks is dangerous for the humans and animals involved, and it makes it harder for these places to provide services to the millions of people who visit them yearly.
Zoos house many endangered species that are particularly vulnerable. Visitors who throw trash or food can harm the animals and create dangerous situations. In the worst-case scenario, animals may have to be euthanized due to visitor abuse.
When visitors to the zoo act irresponsibly, the animals often pay the ultimate price.
Such was the result in the famous case of Harambe, the harmless gorilla who was shot and killed in 2016 after an unsupervised toddler crawled into the enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Another unfortunate case was at the San Francisco Zoo, where a Siberian tiger was shot dead when it jumped out of an enclosure and fatally mauled a man after it was provoked.
Human life and wildlife are both precious, and parks and zoos are places unlike anywhere else in modern life where the two can interact, and people of all ages and levels of ability can visit and learn about nature. This space needs to be respected for everyone's safety.
Chimpanzees are incredible creatures that can learn many behaviors from humans. It's not surprising that they would quickly learn to imitate a smoker.
The more shocking behavior is the irresponsibility of the visitor who risked a fire by throwing a lit cigarette into the enclosure. Not to mention the added cruelty of giving a product packed with carcinogens to a wild animal.
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Do you think people should be allowed to keep exotic animals as pets? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Yes 👍 "Not cute not funny. These animals need to be taken away from the zoo. Completely irresponsible," one video viewer commented.
"Shame on you," another said.
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