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“It would be good to give something back. We eat animals and destroy habitats and at least then I could give something back.”
Ricky Gervais has requested for his body to be fed to lions at London Zoo after he dies.
The outspoken celebrity and passionate animal advocate made the bizarre request on the late-night talk show of US host Conan O’Brien.
During the episode he said: “It would be good to give something back. We eat animals and destroy habitats and at least then I could give something back.”
While Conservation charity ZSL, which owns the London zoo acknowledged the unlikely offer, it turned it down in favour of more suitable diets for its inmates.
According to the zoo, anyone looking to ‘give something back’ can help by making more donations as they’ve been financially burdened by the ongoing pandemic.
‘A bit gristly’
“I suspect Ricky may be a bit gristly for our lions,” Kathryn England, Chief Operating Officer of ZSL London Zoo told The Sun.
“We are struggling financially because of lockdown so if anyone wants to ‘give something back’ we welcome donations that will help us keep our lions fed on a more suitable diet,” she added.
‘Lovely to support them’
Although, this Gervais idea seems certainly strange, the 59-year-old comedian has often used his platform to support and speak up for the animals.
In an earlier interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Gervais revealed that he had been reaching out to his favorite animal charities a lot more during the lockdown when asked whether there was a cause that had become extremely important to him during the pandemic
“I’m glad people are realizing that the National Health Service are heroes and it’s lovely to support them,” Gervais said at the time.
“And I’m doing the same animal charities that I always did and probably even a little bit more because people are giving up their pets because they’re worried about themselves.”
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