An appalling tourist has sparked fury after throwing a plastic bottle into the mouth of a hungry hippo that was expecting to be fed.
The incident took place in Taman Safari Bogor, a safari park located in Indonesia, where a hippo was opening its large mouth when a group of tourists drove past its habitat.
Instead of treating the hippo to a delicious meal, however, one of the female passengers threw a large plastic bottle into the animal’s mouth.
The outrageous moment was recorded by 32-year-old Cyntia Ayu who called the park officials after the waste became lodged in the hippo’s throat.
“I didn’t expect something like that to happen, so that is why I wasn’t filming from the beginning. I took my phone and started recording while we were still not allowed to get out of the car,” Ayu, who was driving behind the perpetrator, said in an interview with Newsflash.
“I was not able to stop the woman, I tried to honk but she did not appear to have noticed me. I called the officers for help instead.
“When we arrived at the zoo’s tiger station, I immediately told a security guard what happened. By then we had lost sight of the people in the car who threw the rubbish. We were more concerned with helping the hippo than following the car.”
According to the 32-year-old tourist, the female tourist who threw the plastic bottle out of the car also disposed of tissue in a similar manner.
As she added, the officials rushed to the animal after the incident to help remove the plastic bottle lodged in its mouth. Ayu also confirmed that the hippo is now in good condition.
Following the outrage over the senseless act, Animal Defenders Indonesia confirmed that the tourist in question has been identified. The middle-aged woman reportedly apologized and promised not to do anything like that ever again.
“Right now the animal is fine because she vomited the litter. Had she swallowed it, the plastic cup could’ve killed the animal because plastic cups take hundreds of years to degrade,” Yulius Suprihardo, a spokesperson for the safari park, said.
After the litterbug has been identified, the safari park filed a police report even though the woman had apologized to them in person. As of this writing, it is not clear if the police will launch an investigation into the matter.
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Replaced!