Animal rights activists feel the strain of zoo life
Sleeping on the floor of a makeshift animal cage under bright lights is taking its toll on a group of five Khoi and San activists who, on Monday, kicked off an 11-day cage sleepin to highlight alleged animal rights abuses at the East London zoo.
The unusual protest is taking place at Retail Park in Beacon Bay, about 9km from the zoo.
The demonstrators, who include ANC MPL Christian Martin, have called for the zoo to shut down.
They said the zoo’s enclosures, especially for the bears, the jaguar and the African vulture, were not big enough.
Wednesday night concluded day three of the sleep-in.
“It’s been strenuous on the body,” Martin said.
“We’re sleeping on the floor under bright lights that are on throughout the night and, on top of that, we’ve subjected ourselves to a vegan diet – so we have some understanding of what some of the animals might be going through.”
Martin said the animals were not being fed in accordance with their natural diet.
The protesters were, therefore, also eating differently to how they normally would.
Fellow Khoi and San activists Crawford Fraser, Joseph Kreeling, Trevor Kopeleng and Melvin Smith are also taking part in the protest.
“We would really like to call on the religious community to support us in this mission, to help us in highlighting the plight of the animals at the zoo,” Martin said.
Ban Animal Trading chair Smaragda Louw said the animals “just exist – they don’t live”.
“No zoo can actually mimic what animals would experience in the wild,” she said.
“Our recommendation is that the zoo be closed down.
“It shouldn’t exist because it adds no educational or conservation value.
“They should develop a park that can be used by people.” Martin said: “The main animals we are focusing on [are] the jaguar, the African vulture, as well as the bear and chimpanzee.
“We went to visit the zoo and we could see the frustration of these animals [because] their cages are way too small.”
Buffalo City municipality spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said the zoo had a plan in place “which identifies correctly the type of animals that should or shouldn’t be with our type of zoo”.
“The city has in the last two years put in place a zoo operational plan to improve the operational standards of the zoo to a point where we can meet our national set standards.”