‘LIONS VS. DONKEY, DONKEY WINS’: A VIDEO SCANDAL
Tert
Oct 20 2009
Armenia
What began as a tweet on Twitter and quickly disseminated on Facebook,
has now been picked up by blogs and published on Global Voices Online,
an online community of more than 200 bloggers around the world who
report on local news and events in a plethora of languages.
And what is this news of the day that has spread like wildfire in
social networking sites and online communities? A video posted on
YouTube of what is allegedly the private zoo of Armenian MP Gagik
Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan, the head of the second largest political party in the
Armenian National Assembly, Prosperous Armenia, is also the head of
the Armenian National Olympic Committee.
The video shows a fight between three lion cubs and a donkey;
apparently, the donkey was placed in the lions’ cage for the amusement
of onlookers who many assume to be members of Tsarukyan’s entourage.
Near the end of the video, one can hear gunshots, though it’s not
clear whether those present are shooting at the donkey, the lion
cubs, or into the air. Regardless of who the shots were aimed at,
it is clear that the animals were ill-treated, to say the least.
The video was quickly removed after news circulated on Facebook (as per
YouTube,"This video has been removed due to terms of use violation"),
though links were re-posted and the video is now available on alternate
video-sharing sites, such as Dailymotion.