Taking food to animals is habit that man has always liked it. And we do not refer, no, to the croquette launched in Fido at home: that it is to offer peanuts to the elephants of the zoo, the lions with the lions in a cage or, worse, bread to the birds, has always had a certain (chilling) charm.
The Pro level comes when the others are feeding the animals while you soak the breakfast biscuits and sip orange juice: another trend reserved for those who can afford exclusive resorts in Tanzania and probably fueled by that sense of omnipotence and compassion together that perhaps we try towards animals that in reality would be happier in their place, without any harassment.
This is the case of Federica Panicucci’s latest videos that, precisely from one of these “luxury resorts” already accustomed to promoting such “experience”, gets back as she consumes her breakfast in the middle of the savannah, between delicious giraffes in search of a snack:
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Exactly how it happened for Gianmarco Tamberi who a few months ago ended up in the eye of the cyclone for a post in which he caresses a lion puppy, so for Panicucci he did not spare himself (which, in any case, has 20 thousand likes!).
For what reason for the mere selfishness of men must there be a table with coffee among the animals? They say some.
When the savannah becomes Instagram background: but at what price for animals?
The breakfast between giraffes and zebras is in fact the last frontier of luxury experiential tourism. But behind the exotic and patinated appearance is hidden a far from idyllic reality: these animals are not found there “by chance” or by curiosity.
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They are intentionally attracted with food, accustomed to human presence and, often, conditioned to interact for pure entertainment. The problem is not only ethical, but ecological and behavioral: to force wild animals to such unnatural interactions alters their rhythms, their social behaviors and their diet, making them increasingly dependent on man and less and less free.
The normalization of the spectacularization of the fauna
Those who choose these cover experiences, often passed off as “immersive” or “sustainable”, contributes to an industry that makes wildlife a luxury accessory. It is the same mechanism that leads to selfies with sedated tigers or caresses to lion puppies kept in captivity to please tourists. Instead of respecting the environment and its inhabitants, the natural habitat is transformed into an anthropocentric stage.
The giraffes did not appear from instagrammable safaris: they are sentient beings who deserve to live without intrusions, cameras and branch brioche looking for likes.
