Protests Force Moulin Rouge to Drop Snake Act

The snake show is now history at Paris' historic Moulin Rouge cabaret. The club has dropped a long-running act in which a dancer swims around snakes in a water tank, the Guardian reports. Animal rights campaigners said the snakes involved, Southeast Asian reticulated and Indian pythons, were terrestrial species and they could be seen trying to keep their heads above the water during the act. The snakes also had their mouths—and anuses—taped up to avoid any biting or defecating incidents, campaigners said.

The club, which was founded in 1889, initially resisted calls to end the act immediately, saying it would wait until 2024, when it plans to end all shows involving live animals. On Tuesday, however, it said it had ended the act permanently that day, AFP reports. The move followed street protests from animal rights groups and a warning from city authorities that terrestrial snakes should not be used in water acts. (More cabaret stories.)