A zoo in Lebanon has been slammed for having a glass box which allows visitors to crawl inside a lion enclosure to tease and frustrate the animal up close. You can see visitors inside the glass box below:
Criticism began pouring in after the video above was posted by the zoo, which shows two women appearing to agitate an adult lion on the other side of the glass wall.
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The glass box is said to be part of a promotion offering a 'memorable face-to-face encounter'.
Animal City describes itself as Lebanon's largest shelter and wildlife park, with over 200 species of animals.
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were particularly unpleased with the footage and have called people to boycott the zoo.
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UK director of PETA Elisa Allen said: "Shame on this shoddy park for treating animals as nothing more than living exhibits.
"This gimmicky interaction is clearly agitating the lion, and PETA urges everyone opposed to cruelty to stay well away from this facility and others that rob animals of meaningful lives, condemning them to endure stress and despair for the sake of human entertainment."
She also made clear that by boycotting the park, the animals would still get regular meals and proper treatment.
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Allen continued: "It's worth remembering that this shoddy park seems to be breeding yet more animals - creating more hungry mouths to feed - just so that it can continue to imprison them for profit.
"But exhibitors can phase out their cruel displays by stopping all breeding programmes and working with animal protection bodies to move the animals to reputable sanctuaries where they can have some semblance of the life they've been denied."
People took to social media to express their feelings towards the incident.
One Twitter user wrote: "Normalise NOT locking up wildlife and using them in stressful ways for attractions and influencers.
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"Selling 'memorable' face to face abusing poor lions who can do nothing other than claw away at proofed glass, wow thanks."
Another said: "This is bloody awful!"
Others called the footage 'disgusting'.
A final user said: "This truly makes my heart hurt."
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LADbible has contacted Animal City for a comment.
Featured Image Credit: NewsflashTopics: World News, Zoo, Animals, Lion