Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski trolled Orbán over the footage, asking him whether zebras are “traditional farm animals” in Hungary.
From Budapest to Grozny, from Moscow to Pyongyang, strongmen leaders have long turned wild animals into political props, as symbols of wealth, virility and power. In light of Orbán and the zebras, POLITICO took a look at some of the world’s other controversial animal aficionados.
Shark tale
Georgian oligarch and de facto ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili resides in a neo-modernist steel-and-glass castle above Tbilisi — with his own shark tank. In recent years, his Georgian Dream party has pivoted away from the EU and toward a more pro-Russian pathway.
A known collector of exotic plants and animals, Ivanishvili had amassed an impressive personal zoo in his mansion, including penguins, zebras, lemurs, a kangaroo and, yes, a shark. In a 2014 interview, he modestly described the shark as small, “just a meter and a half.”
“Lemurs roamed free in my yard like cats,” he added.
Ousted ostrich connoisseur
Ukraine’s former Russian satrap Viktor Yanukovych also had a zoo in his mansion featuring peacocks, pheasants, deer and bears. He also once owned three kangaroos, but one froze to death, one escaped and the third was released in the hope they would return — which didn’t happen.