One of Chicago’s largest zoos plans on giving away more than 700 condoms Thursday as part of a new program designed to help prevent overpopulation.
The event is meant to promote the debut of “Pillow Talk,” a program from environmentalists at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo is partnering with the group to show a connection between human population growth and wildlife extinction.
“People may recognize that we’re crowding out monarch butterflies and horned lizards, but they often don’t realize that there’s a big way individuals can make a difference,” Sarah Baillie, a population and sustainability intern at CBD, wrote in a press statement announcing the event.
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Some of the most colorful condom packages include slogans like “Wrap with care, save the polar bear” and “Before it gets any hotter, remember the sea otter.”
Julian Braun, a spokesman with the Lincoln Park Zoo, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the condom handout is part of the zoo’s exclusive adults only after hours event happening throughout the remainder of this year.
“In the past 50 years, as human population has more than doubled, wildlife populations have been halved. World Population Day was designated by the United Nations in 1989 to raise awareness about global population issues,” according to the activist group’s statement.
Pillow Talk will be a feature in more than 15 cities this summer, including areas in Colorado, Texas, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Alaska. Volunteers will distribute thousands of condoms in selected cities, and answer questions about the environmental impact of human overpopulation on endangered animals.
CBD’s events comes as the group continues to rail against the Department of Interior’s decision earlier this month to delist grizzly bears after 42 years on the Endangered Species List.
“This outrageously irresponsible decision ignores the best available science. Grizzly conservation has made significant strides, but the work to restore these beautiful bears has a long way to go,” Andrea Santarsiere, an attorney with the group, wrote in June.
CBD has been crusading against President Donald Trump’s pledge to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The group wants the courts to halt construction of the president’s border wall, arguing it will harm sensitive ecosystems and impede the movement of endangered species, specifically jaguars.
“Endangered species like jaguars and ocelots don’t observe international boundaries and should not be sacrificed for unnecessary border militarization,” Kierán Suckling, CBD’s executive director, said in April.
CBD argues the Department of Homeland Security must conduct an environmental assessment of the wall before they can begin building it. The conservationist group believes the wall will harm the environment.
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This report, by Christ White, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
