Ro Hong-chul, who was embroiled in controversy over a photo of a lion on social media, explained the situation again and closed the incident.
On the 16th, Ro Hong-chul posted several photos on his social media and wrote, "I contacted the facility I used, local travel agencies, and the person who posted my photo with the post, and received this reply and opinions, and the original post was deleted and a new post was made."
Earlier, Ro Hong-chul had shared on his social media his visit to a private accommodation located on the African savanna. At the time, Ro Hong-chul revealed scenes of giraffes, zebras, and gnus freely coming and going, and sitting beside a white lion and interacting with it.
However, afterward an Africa-specialist travel agency criticized Ro Hong-chul's post and the accommodation in Tanzania where Ro Hong-chul had stayed, claiming, "Even if you try to romantically package it as a sleeping lion, this lion is sedated," and argued, "The reason the lion walks beside you with sleepy eyes, can be touched, and does not resist even when its belly is struck is because drugs were injected," sparking an uproar.
As the controversy swelled, Ro Hong-chul added a description from the accommodation that said, "Ethical wildlife interactions. We visited after seeing keywords such as Tanzanian government, health treatment recovery, and release to natural habitat. There are valuable opinions. If that is the case, of course I will participate as well," and "Our reserve is over 1,000 acres in size and has been developed in stages of 50 acres according to the needs of the animals. Animals are received in an ethical manner, either handed over from zoos or rescued as individuals injured in the wild."
Later Ro Hong-chul posted again on social media, sharing a message from the accommodation. The accommodation denied the claim that "drugs were injected," saying, "This is not true. It is false information. Veterinary drugs are not sold in Tanzania. Even if one of our animals is injured and needs surgery, such drugs are purchased by the government," and rebutted, "Lions are active only in the morning and evening and rest in the afternoon. This photo was also taken in the afternoon, and the lion was sleeping. In fact, even if you go to see animals in the wild in the afternoon, you will mostly see them sleeping."
The Africa-specialist travel agency that had criticized Ro Hong-chul and the accommodation via social media also apologized, saying, "Today I felt very heavy-hearted because of the criticism that Ro Hong-chul did not deserve," and "We have also deleted all the specific information from the post that had spread like an attack post."
[photo] SNS
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