Even Penguins And Otters Are Pissed Off About Inflation

Penguins and otters at a Japanese zoo are feeling the effects of inflation and they’re not happy about it.

Zookeepers at the Hakone-en Aquarium in the Kanagawa prefecture south of Tokyo have swapped out the usual fatty aji mackerel for saba, which is a less expensive alternative, according to Vice World News. But penguins and otters are quite literally turning the other beak.

“Even if they’ll take it in their beaks, they’ll just spit it out,” head zookeeper Hiroki Shimamoto told Vice World News.

A hilarious video of the penguins shows an employee attempting to feed a penguin the saba. The penguin briefly touches its beak to the fish before turning away in defiance. Another penguin won’t dare let the fish touch its beak, turning its head away several times as an employee tries their hardest to feed the bird. (RELATED: Here’s Where Inflation Is Taking The Biggest Bite Out Of Americans’ Wallets)

One penguin goes a step further, stepping away from the cheap saba.

The otters also shunned the fish, though two otters physically take the saba and appear to taste it before spitting it out or dropping it. One otter even gives the zoo employee the benefit of the doubt, checking to see whether the employee was still offering the saba. When the otter smells the saba it immediately turns around and hopped back into the water in disgust.

The cost to run the aquarium has jumped approximately 20% since the beginning of the year, Shimamoto told Vice World News, but was not able to disclose how much the aquarium spends on food.

Shimamoto said for the picky eaters “who refuse to eat the new fish, we just give them what they used to eat,” according to Vice World News.