Visitors to a French zoo sparked outrage after they scratched their names on a rhino’s back on Aug. 21, according to multiple reports.
The picture of the female rhinoceros with the names “Camille” and “Julien” scratched on her back was shared on social media, and in turn sparked massive outrage, Fox News reported.
Two idiots visiting a #zoo in southwestern French scrawled their names (“Camille” and “Julien”) on the back of a rhinoceros. The 35 year old rhinoceros is called Noëlle. https://t.co/aV6wMZnlrB
— Matthew Fraser (@frasermatthew) August 21, 2019
The zoo in Royan, southwestern France, La Palmyre, made a statement regarding the incident, writing that they were “outraged by the stupidity and disrespect” with the actions of the visitors, according to Agence France-Presse. However, the news outlet said in the statement that the zoo would not be pressing any charges against the visitors.
The director of the zoo, Pierre Caille, said the visitors used their fingernails to scratch their names on the back of the rhinoceros. Although it was an outrageous act, the rhino might not have even felt it. That’s because their names were scratched into a layer of dust on the animal’s back, and not the actual skin, AFP reported.
“The animal may not even have realized. We quickly brushed the writing away, and there was no harm to the animal,” Caille said to AFP.
The zoo provides visitors with an opportunity to get close enough to touch the rhino. According to AFP, the close experience with being able to contact the animal could allow the visitors to really appreciate the beauty of nature.
“Our Rhino can position [itself] against the wall of their enclosure, close to the visitors if they wish. They can also decide to rest at a distance from the visitors. When the Rhino is against the wall, visitors actually have the opportunity to touch the skin of their back, and the vast majority do it with respect. We believe that being able to approach such an animal raises the emotion of the visitor and allows it to raise awareness not only about diversity but also to the majesty of the living around us,” the translated statement read, according to the zoo’s Facebook post.
The zoo said this sort of interaction allows visitors to have a better experience of the animals. The news outlet reported that the wildlife protection charity, Le Biome, said that they frown upon this sort of interaction and that the zoo’s allowance of this closeness “fell short of standard.”
People on social media have been criticizing the visitors for their actions, telling the zoo that they should stop allowing people or touch the animal.
Some visitors at a French Zoo etched names into the skins of the Rhinos, as if the walls of monuments weren’t enough for that kinda stupidity. When will people stop being so irresponsible and imprudent. This is really disgraceful. #animalrights #AnimalCruelty #France pic.twitter.com/JmmPFbcFKI
— Devaagya Chawla (@DevaagyaC) August 22, 2019
Another example why zoos and circuses with animals should go. Imbeciles in a French Zoo in La Palmyre carved their names in the skin of a Rhino. Only in zoos a Rhino can be approached as if it was a domesticated animal. pic.twitter.com/GpFrGMuNkQ
— ThaiMythbuster (@thaimythbuster) August 21, 2019
I am “outraged” at a French zoo that is stupid enough to allow people unsupervised access to the animals they keep
— David Ingram (@dingram68) August 22, 2019
The zoo might consider installing surveillance cameras to monitor the enclosure, according to AFP, but it doesn’t really want too many cameras.
The Sun reported that the zoo doesn’t want to distance the visitors from the rhinoceros. They instead will increase the number of caretakers who will make their presence known, so these incidents don’t happen again.
“We will strengthen the presence of our caretakers in the park. We will ensure that this does not happen again,” the zoo said, according to The Sun. “We do not wish, at the moment, to put more distance between the rhinoceros and the public, but if we notice a degradation in behavior, it is a measure that we could consider.”
