The straws and lids can hurt the animals.

We took the kids to the zoo yesterday. The lion area was closed except for one section. The elephant house was closed for renovation. Supposedly there were orangutans somewhere to be found. The ape house was empty. The hippo had been sold to Minnesota. There were birds aplenty. We saw 2 zebras and 3 cheetahs. Mostly the cheetahs were pacing the pen watching the zebras. We never saw any feeding action. Not unless you count the time when we were going to see the lobster eat an oyster and we waited oh-so-patiently as the volunteer dropped the oyster right behind a rocky area where we couldn't see. We definitely saw our fair share of snakes. We caught a wild praying mantis but left it there as we didn't want to steal one of the main attractions of the zoo. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and the kids loved seeing the animals that were actually AT the zoo. We finished our visit with a yummy soda. We paid and they handed us 32 ounce cups. When we asked for lids and straws (after all we have five kiddos drinking from these big cups) they informed us without apology that the straws and lids can hurt the animals. Peter and I were shocked! Is this written on a sign somewhere? We feel cheated. We didn't know. We wouldn't have bought them...okay, we would have. But what we really wanted to know was...Exactly WHAT animals were going to be injured by straws and lids?!