The selfie craze that took off in 2014 has finally jumped into the animal kingdom. Edinburgh zoo keepers set up HTC RE cameras in a number of animal enclosures and left them to their own devices. The ensuing #zoofies are sure to prompt a few laughs.
Keepers were surprised at how fast the animals picked up the skills to use the cameras. Koala Kardashian was one of the first to master the art with her Miley Cyrus inspired selfie. Digital Manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Jon-Paul Orsi said, “We were surprised by how much they enjoyed being in front of the camera, particularly with one of our resident koalas hogging the limelight.”
Not all the animals turned out to be photographers though with Lion-el Ritchie and Tiger Tempah not taking any selfies, due to the fact that their paws proved too large to operate the camera.
Orsi added that, “We do a lot of our own photography on-site and these shots offer something completely different – the animals showing off their true personalities.”
Our favourite selfie is of this smiley binturong who sure looks happy with his new plaything.
Keepers were happy to be able to capture unexpected and spontaneous activities that the animals undertook during the day.
Ben Walsh from HTC explained that, “We know the most popular thing on the internet is funny pictures that owners take of their pets so at HTC were glad we’ve made a camera so brilliant and simple that animals can finally join us humans and start taking selfies too. With koalas taking the most pictures of themselves, expect to see their Instagram feeds full of koala selfies.”
The RE camera works by having a built in grip sensor that activates the camera and captures the selfie. Making it easy enough to use that even penguins can have a go.
Photo Credits: Edinburgh Zoo
