Recently, there were two pieces of sad news. An old gorilla (大猩猩)called Sentai was seriously ill because some visitors fed them food. Another poor animal, a deer, died with 3.5 kilograms of plastic bags in her stomach. The two poor animals remind people of the most basic zoo rule again: do not feed animals.
Visitors often throw foods like peanuts and bread to animals. They think it's kind for them to feed the animals. However, the foods are not good for the animals and may cause them to become sick.
"Imagine if someone often gives your children snacks and sweets. Would your children have healthy food as usual? This behavior can lead children to ignore (忽视) the healthy food. This is the same to animals," Zhang, an animal expert in Beijing, told the Global Times.
Poor Sentai's condition makes many people feel angry, and some people advise zoos to do more than just stop visitors when they feed animals. Some even advise the zoos to make a "blacklist" to keep those visitors out. However, it is very difficult for zoos to do this job. A worker in Shanghai zoo says that workers in the zoo will correct people's mistakes and try to improve public awareness (意识)to stop this behavior.
Some people say that after hearing the news, they felt sorry for feeding animals at the zoo. Others say they are surprised to find that their "kind behaviors" could actually harm the animals.
We human beings can express our feelings when we feel ill or uncomfortable, but this is impossible for animals. So it's important for visitors to protect the animals-by not feeding them.
