The longer I write about human-animal encounters, the less hope I seem to have. While most would assume it is common sense not to interact with wild animals, many individuals seem to lack that critical thinking. Whether it is trying to pet a wild animal, feed it human food, or snap the perfect selfie, people never seem to learn. Now, one tourist is getting slammed on the internet after he was caught pouring beer into an elephant's trunk.
Tourist Sparks Outrage After Pouring Beer Into Elephant's Trunk
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A Spanish tourist, who uses the Instagram handle @skydive_kenya, has sparked outrage online. While visiting a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya, he took it upon himself to interact with one of the elephants. However, the interaction was anything but respectful. In a now-deleted video, he showed himself cracking open a beer beside the animal. As if being that close wasn't risky enough, this tourist then decided to take things one step further. Next, he opted to take that beer can and pour it down the elephant's trunk. Naturally, this enraged many people.
Not only is it completely idiotic to invade a wild animal's personal space, but it is also incredibly dangerous. Both for the person and the elephant. The NY Post shares that "There is no evidence that elephants can safely consume alcohol. Experts say feeding them foreign substances — especially something like beer — could disrupt their digestion, behavior, and overall health."
Not His First Offense
While this incident was shocking enough, unfortunatley, it is not his man's only interaction with the wildlife. The Post shares that he was also seen feeding carrots to two other elephants. Additionally, he shared more footage of himself petting rhinos at the wildlife sanctuary. A staff member at the Ol Jogi Conservancy stated, "This should never have happened. We're a conservation and we can't allow that to happen." I couldn't agree more.
Similarly, the people of the internet seem to agree with the staff member as well. They left comments under the BBC's Instagram post on the matter. Some of those comments are down below.
"JAIL HIM."
"He should be fined and deported. End of holiday. And named."
"Ban this dude from all wildlife venues for life."
"Disgusting behavior."
