Cruel tourist tricks hippopotamus into eating plastic in infuriating video
Indonesia - A poor safari animal was badly mistreated by tourists right on camera, and the internet is fuming. Here's what went down.
![A poor safari animal was badly mistreated by tourists right on camera, and the internet is fuming.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/h/w/hw1r739na7rf3osoow0u1yh5x3lecsud.jpg)
There is plenty to see in the Indonesian Taman Safari Park with no shortage of exciting encounters.
A recent video circulating on X shows an unidentified group of visitors stopping directly in front of a huge hippo, who is seen poking his head curiously from the water.
They lure the creature over with the promise of a carrot and, just as the open-mouthed hippo gets his hopes up, they instead toss a plastic bag into the animal's mouth at the last second.
Then, as if to add insult to injury, they lazily flop the carrot to the hippo but it misses the animal's mouth and falls away, lost somewhere in the water.
Though the video is short, it obviously seems to have made a lasting impact on an online community of animal lovers who have suggested everything from a lifetime safari ban to prison time.
There is one piece of positive news, though! A spokesperson for Taman Safari Park reported that the license plate of the vehicle has now been identified.
What consequences these tourists will face still remains to be seen, however.
Cover photo: Collage: Screenshots/X/@PicturesFoIder