A Florida high school has apologised for exhibiting live wild animals including a caged tiger at a jungle-themed prom in a hotel.
Friday night’s event for final-year students at Christopher Columbus High School, an all-male private school in the suburbs of Miami, featured typical prom entertainment such as a disco and dancers.
However, the party also included more controversial “entertainment”: a display of live animals, included a lemur, macaws and a tiger.
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Video footage shared online by the sister of a student showed the animal pacing a small cage in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by a crowd of excited prom-goers.
“This poor tiger was used as an EXOTIC amusement for the mindless teenagers who were present,” Mari-Cris Castellanos said in a widely shared Facebook post that has drawn the attention of animal lovers and activist groups alike.
Ron Magill, communications director for Zoo Miami, told local news service CBS Miami that the animal’s body language suggested that it was “horribly stressed”, which would also have posed a risk to the safety of students at the party.
“What if that tiger had gotten out and escaped?” Magill said. “I am not saying the tiger is going to systematically kill everyone, but in its drive to get away from this horrible situation it will take out anyone getting in its way and its escape.”
The school confirmed that “a lemur, two macaws, an African fennec fox, and a tiger” hired from local wildlife suppliers were briefly displayed at the Welcome to the Jungle prom, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport and Convention Center. School officials said that two police officers had been stationed inside the ballroom and that neither the students nor the animals were in any danger at any time.
The tiger “was not forced to perform, was always accompanied by his handlers, and for the great majority of the time was lying down in a relaxed state facing away from the audience”, the school added.
However, in a later statement responding to the media and online backlash, Christopher Columbus principal David Pugh said that “as a school community, we regret the decision to have had live animals at our prom”.
“We can assure the Columbus community and all who have expressed concern, that we are sorry,” Pugh said. “We have learned a great deal from this experience.”
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