Monkey see… monkey do…
The zookeepers at the Beijing Zoo had a tough night taming their animals as many of them began to fight with each other after witnessing a human brawl that took place at the zoo earlier in the day.
According to Global Times, a group of tourists was said to have been involved in a brawl over trivial matters at the Beijing Wildlife Park in the Daxing District. The fight occurred last Saturday afternoon, 7 August.
It was reported that the clash between the two groups of tourists began as a verbal one but quickly turned physical.
In the minute-long clip, men and women were seen on the ground, kicking and pulling each other’s hair. A woman holding a baby in her arms also participated in the fight by kicking another woman lying on the ground and grabbed hold of her hair.
Moments later, the woman with the baby was kicked from behind by a man, causing both the woman and baby to fall to the ground.
The brawl later stopped and was settled when security guards were pulled in.
“They shouted at each other, tore at each other, and many tourists and animals were watching. The two sides reached a settlement after mediation,” said a park authority in a statement, as reported by Global Times.
A big fight that occurred at the Beijing Wildlife Park yesterday apparently set a very bad example for the animals witnessing it. According to the park, the animals imitated these wild humans and had their own altercation at night. (Video via Beijing Life/北京生活） pic.twitter.com/ldgn63ya6g
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) August 8, 2021
Animals at the zoo imitate the fight later that evening
According to Global Times, the animals at the zoo must have been impressed by the event that happened as it was the first time they have ever seen a fight occur between humans.
That evening, some animals followed suit in their own animal houses and started fighting. The scene was reportedly out of control.
“Under the patient education of the keeper, [we believe] animals knew that fighting was not good,” the park noted, implying that it was not good for tourists to fight in the zoo.
Zookeepers had to find a solution to teach the animals that fighting is “bad, very bad”.
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery but we don’t think that applies to this scenario.
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