The management of the Royan zoo, in Charente-Maritime, said Wednesday "saddened" and "outraged" by the "stupidity" of some visitors, and said think about installing video cameras, after the discovery of inscriptions - two names in this case - on the back of a rhinoceros.
"Someone scratched, with the fingernail, the back of the animal"
The photo of the first names "Camille" and "Julien" on the back of the female rhinoceros 35 years old was taken by a surfer, and relayed Monday by a local news site, becoming viral and triggering many indignant reactions on the " tagged rhinoceros ".
"It's not about tags per se," Palmyra Zoo director Pierre Caillé said, "someone scratched the dust / dried sand / dead skin layer with the fingernail. the back of the animal to write these names ".
The zoo "outraged by stupidity and disrespect"
In a statement, the management of the zoo said "outraged by the stupidity and disrespect of the author (s)" of the registration. She explains that sometimes rhinoceros are positioned against the enclosing wall of the enclosure, near visitors, who "actually have the opportunity to touch the skin of their back, and the vast majority do so with respect."
If it does not intend to give legal consequences, the zoo considers that "this act can give ideas to others", estimated Pierre Caillé, and if it "does not want CCTV everywhere", it says " think to install cameras in certain sensitive points of the park ".