PROTESTERS CLIMB INTO CAGES DRESSED AS ANIMALS AT EL ZOO
Tourism MEC Oscar Mabuyane promises to look into anti-cruelty claims and explore the idea that thanks to the internet, the time for zoos is over.
About 100 animal lovers gathered outside the East London Zoo on Saturday to protest against the animals’ living conditions.
Organised by Ban Animal Trading (BAT) activists, some protesters dressed as animals while others sat in mock cages.
Amongst the demands on their placards was the immediate relocation of the jaguar, which has spent 18 months in a 150m² wire cage that was meant to be a temporary home while the zoo’s management finalised permanent quarters.
This was to be ready by the end of winter last year. According to BAT, the cage contains a slimy moat and a pole but no shade or enrichment objects.
In October one of the zoo’s two bears lost a hind leg to paralysis and it was euthanised.
The cape vulture, an endangered species, is kept alone in a cage with no space to fly.
Protest organiser, Elizabeth Kahn, said they hoped to not only create awareness but also get the animals freed and moved to a suitable sanctuary.
“Animals should not be kept in a zoo, just look at them, they are anxious and bored. They have no proper shelter or stimulation,” she said.
Khoisan activist and ANC MPL Christian Martin took the protest one step further by pledging to live in a cage for 12 days until their demands were met.
The cage is to be placed outside one of East London’s shopping centres.
“I will do this from March 10, only coming out on Human Rights Day, March 21. I want visibility so I can alert the public to the plight of these animals.
“There is really no purpose to the zoo. There used to be a need but, with the advent of the internet, one only needs to go online to see animals, pictured in their natural habitats,” he said.
A petition with about 150,000 signatures was handed to finance, environmental affairs & tourism MEC Oscar Mabuyane.
He said: “We give thanks to people like you who alert us to such issues. We, as the Eastern Cape government, pledge to look into the issue.”
The zoo first came under fire following the death of William the chacma baboon in 2017, who initially suffered paralysis of his hind legs, leading to the animal being euthanised when a veterinary examination found him to have infested wounds on his buttocks.
The National Council of SPCAs laid charges of animal cruelty against zoo staff.
Since then, pictures of the small animal enclosures have done the rounds on social media, leading to the petition.
In a statement issued by Buffalo City Metro spokesperson, Samkelo Ngwenya, a zoo operational plan had been put in place.
“We are working closely with the environmental affairs department and all organisations whose mandate is to rightfully hold us accountable. Progress in this regard is going on very well and we now have specific environmental aspects that have been put in place,” the statement reads.
Animals should not be kept in a zoo, just look at them, they are anxious