Another animal mishap happened lately in the hands of tourists. All for the sake of selfies.
Over the weekend, pictures surfaced online of Chinese tourists holding a full-grown peacock in a zoo, with reports saying that this magnificent feathered creature, plus another one, died due to the mishandling of the visitors. This, of course, garnered negative reactions from netizens around the world. Proper animal care has been a sensitive topic lately, especially following the news of a baby dolphin that died in the hands of beach goers when people found him and passed him around for pictures.
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According to reports, this fiasco happened last February 12 at the Yunnan Wild Animal Park in Kunming, Yunnan Province in China. The pictures were taken by a another tourist who posted the images online.
Visitors are informed not to touch the peacocks, Mr. Bai, Yunnan Wild Animal Park’s spokesperson, apparently told Huaxi Metropolis Daily. So when the zoo keepers saw the peacocks in the arms of the tourists, they came running. But it was already too late. Two of the peacocks already died. Apparently, peacocks are very easily scared to death, quite literally, as this can lead to heart attacks.
There has been no news yet whether Yunnan Wild Animal Park will be pressing charges against the tourists, but let this be a lesson to everyone: Look, but please, don’t touch animals unless guided by caretakers. Let’s all be responsible travelers.
