Kudakudhinge Bageecha: whose brilliant idea was it to cage plastic animals?

Kudakudhinge Bageecha was opened on Friday, with "improvements".

The popular children's park was closed in December 2016, for renovations.

Kudakudhinge Bageecha was first opened in 1998, and was a popular spot among skaters and roller- bladers. It has previously housed a crocodile, as well as other animals and birds.

While there had been reports that the crocodile had been killed since the park's closure in December, it was noticeably missing when the doors to the park were opened on Friday.

While the main gist of the park remains- a place for children to enjoy themselves- a certain thing there had caused major backlash.

One does not have to pay a visit to Kudakudhinge Bageecha to see what is being referred to here. The photos that are all over the social media have left everyone dumbfounded, well, except for a few people who seem to be able to make sense of the matter.

Who cares about the crocodile not being there when it is filled with other sorts of animals, albeit plastic, right?

To be honest, it really is hard to understand how anyone would have thought it okay to have the plastic animals in cages. I mean, sure, Maldives does not have a huge variety of animals, but plastic animals? In cages? What is the point really?

Well, according to South-Maafannu constituency MP Abdulla "Bochey" Rifau, the Dinosaur Planet in Bangkok "is full of plastic too". So, according to the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) representative, the people who are criticizing the decision to cage plastic animals are the ones with "MDP logic".

First of all, Bangkok's Dinosaur Planet features eight zones; visitors can learn about dinosaurs at Dinosaur District; have fun in the only Dino Eye in the world; travel back in time at Stars of Dino; explore the bottom of the ocean at 4D Deep World; enjoy exciting shows at The Great Volcano; get their adrenaline pumping at Raptor X-Treme; ride a dinosaur at Dino Farm; and dine and shop at Dino Square.

So, MP Rifau, a few questions for you.

1. What other kind of dinosaurs did you expect to see at a Dinosaur Planet? Real ones?
2. Were they in cages (since they are plastic too)?
3. Can the Kudakudhinge Bageecha really be compared to Dinosaur Planet?

After all the backlash, the two caged animals- a deer and a cheetah- have been "released". A petition was opened on change.org, calling on the Maldivian government to release the animals "for conservational and humane purposes".

The animals have since been "freed"

Expressing concern over the fact that "a carnivore and herbivore were locked in the same cage," the petition highlighted that "this has never been recorded in the 21st century before".