Humans go on display at London Zoo
Five women and three men — ranging from a professional dancer to a veterinary student — have put themselves on display as the London Zoo’s resident Homo sapiens for the past three days. The posse of fit and frolicking humans, barely clad in bathing suits pinned with fake fig leaves, has been treated much as other zoo critters. Zookeepers have been providing enrichment toys to keep them entertained and occupied, like hula hoops and paints, and a soccer ball to encourage exercise. “It is important to keep the weight off them,” said keeper Jo Cook. The human display is part of an effort by the Zoological Society of London, which runs the zoo, to highlight humanity’s role as a “plague species” driving thousands of other species toward extinction. But the message may have been lost on a few visitors, like 11-year-old Rory McDonald, who wanted to join the humans on display. “It looks like Baywatch up there. And they even get a better view of the monkeys.”
