Whether its in the wild, at a park, or the zoo, you simply can’t trust people around animals.
When we were in the Bahamas, I witnessed a family pull a conch out of the water and tried their hardest to make it come out of its shell. When it wouldn’t budge, they threaten to leave it on the hot beach until it is so dehydrated, it will be forced to move.
At Stow lake in San Francisco, we rowed by a group of teenagers holding up turtles they found along the small islands. They were taking pictures and knocking on the turtle’s shell.
These are just two of my most recent memories of stupid things people do around animals. My take on it is, if you are going to capture an animal to eat it, then do that. Eat it. But don’t go around prodding at helpless creatures for amusement purposes. No one likes it when other people invade their personal space. I am guessing most animals would appreciate it if you didn’t pick them up and leave them on the beach, when they really want to be in the water…