Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’re doing grreat
Majestic tiger Natasha approaches the fence and roars playfully for attention, her tame nature is breathtaking to watch. Only 12 months ago, she was one of seven tigers and a lion all crammed into a small cage not much bigger than a garage.
With intense competition for food, many of the weaker animals barely ate and they were all malnourished.
But luckily, all eight big cats were rescued from their prison at Wonderland Circus in Spain by animal welfare organisation AAP Primadomus.
Yesterday we revealed the horrific conditions suffered by circus animals across Europe, and how AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection are saving so many.
A year on from being rescued from the circus, Natasha and her seven fellow big cats are healthy and thriving.
We’re at the rehabilitation centre, near the city of Alicante, with Springwatch presenter Chris Packham and his partner Charlotte Corney, founder of the Wildheart Trust at the Isle of Wight Zoo.
When Natasha bounds over, Chris and Charlotte are delighted as she proceeds to settle down comfortably beside us, on the other side of the fence.
Born in the circus, she has no fear of humans. Chris explains: “Having been kept in captivity for most of their lives, even though some tigers are mistreated, they aren’t frightened of people.
“Being around people is all they ever knew. That is why some of them are so tame.”
The centre, in the peaceful hills of Villena, above the coastal city in eastern Spain, is paradise for a tiger who has been holed up in a filthy cage for most of its life.
But while Natasha is there, they don’t have space to rescue any more of the 1,000-plus circus animals suffering around the continent.
So, she is one of five tigers Chris and Charlotte hope to bring back to the Isle of Wight for the retirement they deserve.
But they need the help of Mirror readers to raise the money to build suitable spacious new enclosures for these magnificent beasts.
Joining Natasha will be six-year-old Zoppa and Antonella, 13, both females, plus males Mondo, 14, and Girona, 16.
Chris says: “The tiger is one of nature’s greatest masterpieces.
“These five tigers we hope to take with us were rescued from horrendous conditions from a circus in Spain.
“Why is it still happening? Because we still have circuses in Europe that have wild animals and those animals are not there for education or conservation – but for entertainment.
“And when they don’t entertain they are surplus to requirement. They just get abandoned or abused.”
In the wild, tigers are solitary animals which hunt and stay on the move constantly.
But, brought up in circuses, they are kept in groups and trained to perform tricks against their nature. Often depressed, they develop habits that can be hard to break, like walking in circles, pacing or maybe always placing their
paws the best circus life, the aim is to give them the future in captivity possible, because sadly in exactly the same place. Once free of they Chris explains: “Thankfully, the tigers wouldn’t survive in the wild. have been rescued and brought to this absofantastic lutely fantastic rehabilitation centre, AAP in Spain.
“Our objective at the Wildheart Trust, at the Isle of Wight Zoo, is to take these tigers to the UK to give them a good quality of life and good veterinary care.
“I’d much rather that these tigers were in the wild. But the thing is, they can’t be.
“They’re not frightened of people, they don’t know how to hunt and they are not fit enough to survive.
“What we have to do now is give them as good a quality of life in captivity as we can.”
Chris and Charlotte were overcome with emotion on seeing the pitiful lives many of the animals at AAP had before they were rescued.
“Those were some of the worst images I’ve ever seen,” Charlotte says. “The animals were condemned to hell. We heard about one circus
owner who drove off in his Mercedes as soon as the team arrived to rescue the animals.
“He left them there to die. Obviously that person isn’t human.”
Chris also has no sympathy for circus owners who use wild animals for shows.
He says defiantly: “We all know without ambiguity that circuses are not ethically, morally or in any way acceptable at this point in time. It is irrelevant how they feel about their animals. They may love them, but they are wrong. We should move as rapidly as possible to legislation that will shut down circuses.”
The next step is for the EU to ban wild animals in the circus as a whole, Chris says.
“The EU has easily enough money to facilitate that, when you think of the vast billions and millions which are spent on farm subsidies.
“They could easily build and fund places like AAP. We could be rid of circuses in five years if the money was invested.”
Find out more at www.aap.nl/es