“London Zoo is not pissing around”.
The London Zoo has received online praise for a crocodile exhibit that consists of only a handbag. One Twitter user drew attention to the zoo’s Siamese crocodile enclosure in a viral tweet, adding, without exaggeration, “London zoo not piss around.”
The exhibit places a crocodile leather handbag where visitors might expect to see a crocodile, highlighting the illegal wildlife trade and its impact on the species.
“This bag was discovered swimming in slow-moving rivers and streams throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia,” reads a sign near the enclosure.
“More than 80% of Siamese crocodiles have vanished in the last 75 years.” Many were hunted for their skins as part of the illegal wildlife trade, including this one.”
Siamese crocodiles, which are native to Southeast Asia, are highly endangered and nearly extinct in the wild. The creatures have vanished from nearly all of their native range due to a classic combination of habitat degradation and hunting. Humans using their native marsh habitat for rice farming was a major factor in their decline before commercial hunting for their skins became widespread in the 1950s.
The handbag on exhibit at the zoo was intercepted at a UK airport, according to Ben Tapley, curator of reptiles and amphibians at ZSL London Zoo.
“We created this exhibit within ZSL London Zoo’s Reptile House to draw visitors’ attention to the devastating impact of the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) on species all over the world,” he explained.
“At ZSL, we work with governments and local communities around the world to protect wildlife, assist law enforcement in targeting trafficking networks, empower local communities affected by IWT, and reduce demand for threatened wildlife.”
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