One tourist is sparking backlash and outrage after allegedly tossing a plastic bag into an awaiting hippo's mouth. Someone caught the incident on video, and you can take a look below and be the judge yourself. However, to me, it definitely looks like a plastic bag.
The incident happened at a wildlife sanctuary. In the video, a car pulls up next to a pond where the hippo is relaxing. One person dangles a carrot at the animal. Another throws a plastic bag into the waiting creature's jaws. The original person then tosses the carrot, which misses. The hippo appears unsure whether or not to eat the bag.
It happened at Taman Safari park in Bogor, Indonesia. The park has condemned the tourists for the incident.
"This incident cannot be tolerated," it said in a statement. "Officers who were at the location immediately removed the plastic object from the hippo's mouth, according to the rules and procedures at Taman Safari Indonesia." The park managed to locate the tourist, via their license plate. They've demanded an apology about the incident.
Hippo Was Okay
Fortunately, the hippo was okay.
"The Life and Science team together with the Animal Care team checked the condition of the hippo and that the hippo was in good condition," the statement from the park read. "Taman Safari is committed to protecting and caring for and developing wild animals in conservation institutions [and] will not tolerate events or things that are not in accordance to the regulations."
In response to the incident, several people also took to the comment section to share their thoughts. One wrote, "Humans are the most rotten species on the planet."
Another commented, "Being a human myself, The wildest animals on the earth creating a unwanted unintended ruckus on the earth are humans and I stand with this statement with no pride but lots of shame and guilt....."
Yet another wrote, "Few years back i used to think that why people comments like "humans are bad, humans are shittiest, etc etc". Unfortunately it took me years to understand that they actually are. Took a long time to overcome with all the greatest achievements which human made since centuries, and here we are in 2024, feeding plastic to innocent animals that too for NO reason."
Still, another wrote, "This guy should be put behind the bars."
