Edinburgh Zoo animals take their own selfies

A koala bear at Edinburgh Zoo gets in on the selfie craze. Picture: Hemedia

ANIMALS at Edinburgh Zoo have joined in with the latest craze - taking selfies.

Cameras were installed in enclosures containing penguins, hippos, koala bears and wallabies,

Made by HTC, the cameras were activated by a grip sensor, and began taking photographs as soon as the curious animals touched them.

Keepers at Edinburgh Zoo were keen to capture spontaneous and unexpected moments during the animals’ day.

Jon-Paul Orsi, Digital Manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said that Zoo staff had been ‘surprised’ at the animals’ reaction.

He added: “We do a lot of our own photography on-site and these shots offer something completely different - the animals showing off their true personalities.

“We were surprised by how much they enjoyed being in front of the camera, particularly with one of our resident koalas hogging the limelight.”

The images were taken by the touch-sensitive HTC RE, a small handheld camera that can be activated upon pick up.

The device can also record video footage and is compatible with smartphones.

Spokesman for HTC Ben Walsh said the firm were ‘glad’ they had made a camera that animals could use.

He explained: “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 photographs were taken over the weekend of January 24th and 25th.

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