Zoo Visitors Cause Controversy After Scratching Names Into A Rhino’s Back

Zoos are meant to be happy places where humans can see wild animals and learn more about them. But again and again, the living conditions of polar bears and other animals that are kept in captivity have been the centre of several heated discussions. It has even become so bad that a polar bear being born in the Copenhagen Zoo was bad news! But something different and particularly exceptional happened in the Royan Zoo in France.

You can touch the animals

This zoo is different from other zoos. You are allowed to touch the animals when they get close enough to the fence! This is so animals and humans can be around each other and so can learn to understand each other better.

But these two zoo visitors didn’t appreciate what an incredible opportunity this was and decided to do something awful. They scratched their names ‘Camille’ and ‘Julien’ into the back of the animal.

No permanent damage

They were able to etch their names into the layer of dead skin cells and dust covering the animal’s back. The animal was left unharmed by this and no permanent damage was done to the animal. The zookeepers say that the animal only needed to be brushed for the traces of their names to disappear.

However, the behaviour of these visitors is so disrespectful to the animals and the zoo has assured that it will put better security and controls in place in the future, as The Independent reported.

Terrible zoo conditions

Whether that is enough however is uncertain. The French animal welfare organisation Le Biome has complained about the terrible conditions that the animals are kept in at this zoo and has pointed out that the rhino in the photo is far too thin. According to animal rights activists, things have to change here.

Check out the photo posted by the zoo on Facebook in the video above!

Source: The Sun