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-Short Attention Span Theater-
London Zoo Opens Human Exhibit
2005-08-26
London Zoo unveiled a new exhibition -- eight humans prowling around wearing little more than fig leaves to cover their modesty. The "Human Zoo" is intended to show the basic nature of human beings as they frolick throughout the August bank holiday weekend. "We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem," London Zoo said.
Wow...that's some self-hating homo sapiens there...
Um. The London Zoo thinks of humans as a plague species. I wonder if that label applies to the Zoo director and other officials, or is that just for the commons?
The scantily-clad volunteers will be treated as animals and kept amused at the central London zoo with games and music. PETA will be happy to hear that.
"I actually think the fig leaves will be enough to cover us up, it's no worse than a swimming pool," said volunteer Simon Spiro, 19, from New Malden, south of the British capital. Spiro, selected from dozens of hopefuls in an Internet competition, said he was excited by the prospect of monkeying around on the zoo's Bear Mountain. "I'm a veterinary student so the idea of working for a zoo was something that appealed to me. I thought it would be fun and interesting because I'm an outdoorsy kind of person," he said. Brendan Carr, 25, from Aylesbury, southern England, wrote a poem in his bid to get on the mountain. "I'm funky like a monkey and as cool as a cat, talk more than a parrot, up all night like a bat," it went. "I got a laugh like a hyena but get the hump like a camel, so cover me in fig leaves as I'm the ultimate mammal."
No, you're a plague and oughta be wiped out.
Posted by:Desert Blondie

#11  I once got into an argument with a very right-wing "christtian" who told me he wasn't an animal, he was a human being. I asked him if he wasn't a member of the animal kingdom was he a mineral or a vegetable and that I suspected vegetable because he didn't exhibit much brain function.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-08-26 20:43  

#10  Update:

Visitors stopped to point and laugh, and several children could be heard asking "why are there people in there?" London Zoo spokeswoman Polly Wills said that's exactly the question the zoo wants to answer."Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals ... teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate," Wills said.

Wonder if she's the author of the "plague species" quote which has curiously been omitted here.

Chemist Tom Mahoney, 26, decided to participate after his friend sent him an e-mail about the contest as a joke. Anything that draws attention to apes, he said, has his support."A lot of people think humans are above other animals," he said. "When they see humans as animals, here, it kind of reminds us that we're not that special."

Well maybe you aren't...

The human captives were kept well-fed and watered by zoo staff, who took care to ensure they did not grow bored. A supply of board games was on hand, and some said they were looking forward to tuning into the England-Australia cricket match on the radio. Unlike the zoo's non-human inhabitants, they are allowed to go home each night at closing time.

...and spread their human plague!

And, by the way, Sept 18th is "Gay Day" at London Zoo. God knows what they do for that.
Posted by: tu3031   2005-08-26 15:36  

#9  So...

Where do they take a dump? Right out in the open? Isn't that called "indecent exposure"?

And who gets to clean it up? If I was a keeper, I'd be pissed.
Posted by: mojo   2005-08-26 15:25  

#8  Yeah humans and animals are all the same. When I see a zoo built by any other animal I'll by that one. I'd settle for a reasonable work of art that didn't remind me of something created with NEA funds. Were is the monkey Mona Lisa? All the same my butt.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2005-08-26 14:39  

#7  I still want a pic of a bear sitting on a toilet, reading L'Observatore Romano...
Posted by: mojo   2005-08-26 13:11  

#6  The zoo is primarily a place for young children and their parents to enjoy together. It is a unique and very special experience. It shouldn't be used for half-baked activists to get a free venue to inflict their beliefs upon children.
Posted by: MunkarKat   2005-08-26 13:03  

#5  "We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem," London Zoo said.

Isn't this taking the guilt over their past colonization history juuuuust a bit too far?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-08-26 11:54  

#4  "The scantily-clad volunteers will be treated as animals and kept amused at the central London zoo with games and music"

Don't forget the three halal meals a day and the daily Koran reading.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2005-08-26 11:39  

#3  For the good of the planet, any human who considers themselves part of a "plague species" should be made to kill themselves immediately to help alleviate the problem.
Put your money where your mouth is, boys and girls...
Posted by: tu3031   2005-08-26 10:33  

#2  I know which group is a PLAGUE SPECIES and should be put in cages.
Blair knows them too. He's making new laws about them.
Posted by: Poitiers-Lepanto   2005-08-26 10:25  

#1  Save the world, kill yourselves.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2005-08-26 10:07  

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