Not All Animals Are ‘Party Animals’
© iStockPhoto.com / NadejaReid
I’m no party pooper, but I was horrified to read about the party bloopers that London Zoo is planning for each weekend this month.
Those of us who share our homes with an animal companion already know how easily animals can become frightened by loud noises, flashing lights and crowds of strange people. So whoever came up with the idea of hosting a “silent disco” – a party in which attendees wear headphones to listen to music whilst they dance around – at London Zoo must have a severe compassion deficit when it comes to the needs of animals. Not only do the animals held prisoner in the zoo’s enclosures already have to endure a life that is a million miles from their natural habitats – both in distance and in their ability to engage in natural behaviours – but they also have to contend with hundreds of probably drunken partygoers tramping around their animal prisons!
But it doesn’t end there: am I the only person who sees the irony in the fact that London Zoo is also advertising that there will be a seafood bar and a barbecue at these events? That’s right, it is surprising that an organisation allegedly concerned with wildlife conservation would be supporting the slaughter of animals in order to cook their flesh, combined with the fact that meat production is a key contributor to climate change and the destruction of the world’s rain forests – the very habitat that some of the animals the zoo is trying to “conserve” come from.
Come on, London Zoo! This is a crazy idea. You may be able to cover people’s ears with headphones, but animal lovers still have the foresight to see what a dumb stunt this really is.
