Footage showing people playing tug-of-war with a lion at a British zoo has prompted the creation of a petition calling for the practice to be stopped.
Dartmoor Zoo, which is in the southwest of England, is charging visitors the equivalent of $26 to play the game with lions and tigers.
In the petition, which already has thousands of signatures, Sue Dally wrote: “It's cruel and shows a total lack of respect for these beautiful majestic wild animals.”
Absolutely amazing experience yesterday at @DartmoorZoo with my wife! Tug of war with a 🦁 and yeh we lost 🙈 lol!#DartmoorZoo #Lion #TugOfWar pic.twitter.com/pkwqgxlSmL
— Jay (@jayalex87) February 17, 2019
She added that the zoo is “acting more like a circus” than “somewhere that really cares” about animals.
In the game, a group of visitors holds onto a rope which is extended into the lion or tiger’s enclosure with a piece of meat attached to it.
The big cat then pulls on the meat until, inevitably, the humans are defeated.
Children as young as eight can take part.
But the zoo’s owner, Ben Mee, told a radio station in the UK that the practice was actually important for the predators’ development.
Speaking to talkRADIO, he added: “It’s a really good way to exercise the animal and engage the animal and the pub[lic] at the same time.”
