‘You’re telling me this is supposed to hold in that?’: Man looks at massive rhinoceros at the zoo, then notices the barrier and immediately questions if he’s actually safe

A man from Kentucky went viral on TikTok after he posted a video questioning the safety barrier at a rhino exhibit. Brian Bishop visited the zoo and noticed the fence looked way too small compared to the huge animal behind it.

In his 7-second video, Bishop shows a simple wooden fence before zooming in on the rhino. “You’re telling me this fence is supposed to hold in that?” he asks while focusing on the massive creature. The video has been viewed over 172,600 times.

According to Bro Bible, Bishop was talking to his 3-year-old at the time, making it a fun dad moment. However, many viewers genuinely wondered if that small fence was really all that separated people from an animal weighing thousands of pounds.

The camera angle made it look way more dangerous than it actually was

Bishop later cleared up the confusion. He confirmed that the whole thing was just a trick of perspective. The camera angle made the barrier look weak, but there was actually a deep trench that kept the rhino safely in its area.

One viewer explained the real purpose of the wooden fence. “It’s not, there’s a barrier hidden from view and the fence keeps people out,” they said. This is actually smart enclosure design to prevent visitors from accidentally falling in.

People joked about the situation before the explanation came out. “He’s just a chill guy,” one said. “He is such a distinguished gentleman, he won’t destroy private property or he is afraid of spiders,” another commented.

There was, however, a previous incident in 2018 when a rhino briefly escaped at the Kansas City Zoo. Imara, a female rhino, managed to wander out of her stall and into a hallway after a padlock wasn’t secured. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and nothing serious happened.

While the video was funny, it highlights a serious issue about rhino conservation. These animals are critically endangered. Back in 1900, there were about 500,000 rhinos, but today only around 26,699 exist. This huge drop is mainly due to poaching, habitat loss, and corruption. Similar to how immigration enforcement drastically changed lives, these policies impact vulnerable populations in devastating ways.

Poaching happens because rhino horns are extremely valuable. A single horn can be worth about $45,000. The horns are used in some traditional Asian medicines and are also seen as luxury status symbols. Because of this threat, some zoos and sanctuaries now remove rhino horns to protect the animals.

This method works well. In Namibia during the 1990s, no rhinos without horns were poached. In South Africa’s Greater Kruger region, this strategy cut poaching by 78 percent. Advocacy for endangered species requires persistence, much like reality stars launching political careers through dedicated campaigns.