While humans might be rejoicing the lockdown ending and being able to travel now, the animals certainly aren’t. During the worldwide 2020 lockdown, we came across many positive stories about animals coming out and moving freely in parks and forests. Now that the travel restrictions are lifted, people can visit animal parks freely but it makes one wonder—does everyone deserve this chance? The case of a woman throwing a plastic cup into a hippopotamus’s mouth will have you asking the same question.
A wide online outrage sparked after this horrific video surfaced. The incident is from Taman Safari in Bogor, West Java. The video was recorded by Cyntia Ayu.
“While driving, I saw an arm pop out of a car window holding a plastic cup, waving it at the hippo to apparently make it open its mouth,” Ayu said in an interview. Daily Mail reported she also saw the culprits throwing some tissue as if the hippo’s mouth were a trash bin, but it didn’t land inside its mouth. Ayu claims she honked at the car to try and stop it but the people in front of her didn’t bother with the warning signs. Instead of following the car, she chose to rush to the tiger spot where she met with officials and notified them. The officials rushed to the spot and helped the animal, removing the plastic garbage from the hippo’ mouth.
Ayu was driving behind the alleged culprits in the same safari. When she reached the hippo, she observed there was a blue plastic bottle lodged in the animal’s throat.
The way Taman Safari works is that people can drive around in their cars and have a look at the wildlife in the park but they are not allowed to leave the vehicles for both human and animal safety.
Watch the video here:
According to Doni Herdaru from the charity Animal Defenders Indonesia, the people involved have been identified. Herdaru claims it was a middle-aged woman and she even apologised on video (while having her face covered with a mask). Yulius Suprihardo, Taman Safari spokesman, says an official police complaint has been filed against the woman. It is a form of animal abuse and the creature is alive only because the cup was removed. If it wasn’t, she would have died.