So-Called 'King of Instagram' Catches Heat for Messing With Endangered Species
The so-called “King of Instagram” Dan Bilzerian, a professional poker player, apparent playboy, and lover of guns and women in bikinis, is the focus of controversy after a photo featuring a scantily-clad model straddling an endangered tortoise appeared on his Instagram page. The photo has sparked anger among Bilzerian’s 21 million followers who shared their thoughts on the page.
Bilzerian, the son of wealthy Armenian-American corporate takeover specialist Paul Bilzerian, has became infamous for his high-flying lifestyle and images he shares via Instagram.
This latest photo depicts a woman riding on the back of a 100-year-old Galapagos Tortoise. The bizarre photo was taken while Bilzerian was visiting Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
600 lb, 100 yr old Galapagos tortoise, what an awesome animal
A post shared by Dan Bilzerian (@danbilzerian) on Feb 28, 2017 at 7:34am PST
“Ignorant and disappointing. Is it that difficult to simply respect nature,” read one user’s comments, echoing several similar comments among the thousands of others that were posted.
“Such a nice animal that managed to live 100 years that you had to sit on it. Classy stuff,” read another. Some of Bilzerian’s followers also praised the photo and pushed back against much of the negative comments by saying the turtle didn’t appear to be in any imminent danger.
In another photo presumably from the same trip, Bilzerian is seen with two lemurs on his shoulders captioned: “Shoutout to @richardbranson for being rich enough to buy a private island and make it an endangered animal sanctuary.”
A post shared by Dan Bilzerian (@danbilzerian) on Feb 26, 2017 at 10:20am PST
The photo garnered this among a sea of negative comments.
“Dude bro you make being a trust fund baby with rich parents look so sick and really not that hard. Most of my friends that got everything handed to them died from OD’s so congrats on breaking the norm bro,” wrote the follower.
Bilzerian has yet to respond to the chatter surrounding the photos, nor is it readily known if animals on the island are allowed to be approached and touched by anyone other than staff.
Bilzerian hard at work
Came in hammered after the club and beat these old bastards for over 1/2 million in an hour
A post shared by Dan Bilzerian (@danbilzerian) on May 29, 2016 at 6:09am PDT
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