Press Release
GOVERNMENT CONSERVATION AGENCIES BLAMED FOR MONKEY BUSINESS
14 April 2009
"Very disturbing and requiring urgent intervention and collaboration on the part of the provincial nature conservation authorities, animal rights and welfare agencies and national government", was how Animal Rights Africa (ARA) responded to this week's MNET's Carte Blanche expose of living conditions and alleged neglect and abuse of animals at Monkey Town situated near Somerset West in the Western Cape.
"We are extremely concerned that this zoo, which is taking money from the public, can operate in terms of a permit issued to them by CapeNature without there being stringent and monitored welfare conditions attached to the granting of the permit", said ARA spokesperson, Michele Pickover. "We have had meetings with senior officials of CapeNature to voice our concerns about Monkey Town and other private animal facilities to whom they have issued permits and quite frankly, we are appalled at the lack animal welfare monitoring by them of facilities such as Monkey Town. Both CapeNature and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA have been aware of problems at Monkey Town for a long time and yet until now little or nothing has been done by them to address the problems and improve the living conditions of the animals there."
Private zoos in South Africa are mushrooming totally out of control in South Africa. There is not one private zoo in South Africa which adheres to international standards or plays a significant role in conservation. Thousands of wild animals with complex social structures and foraging ranges of hundreds of kilometres are confined to small cages and are being forced to endure enormous cruelty and suffering. Apparently these zoos seem to gain legitimacy by being members of PAAZAB (the African Association of Zoos and Aquaria) but this is just a case of smoke and mirrors as PAAZAB is a self-regulating, voluntary organisation which has no monitoring or enforcement capabilities. "These zoos are wrongly legitimising themselves and trying to lend credibility to their operations by simply becoming members of a weak and ineffectual PAAZAB. It seems very much to be a case of money being made on the back of animal suffering and nothing to do with conservation or natural social environments", said Pickover.
ARA insists that permit issuing authorities must be extremely cautious about issuing any facility with a permit to keep wild animals in confinement, and also that such an authority should take cognisance of the Animal Protection Act and at the very least accept a 'duty of care' responsibility with regard to the welfare of any animals confined in terms of a permit issued by them. ARA also calls on all provincial nature conservation bodies to consult widely with animal rights and animal welfare organisations before issuing permits for people to keep wild animals, both indigenous and exotic, in captivity for whatever purpose, including the use of such animals as hunting trophies.
Had the South African conservation authorities not been so free with issuing permits and actively growing the trade in wild animals we would not today be sitting with the tragedy of thousands of caged lions and other large animals waiting to be shot by foreign hunters here in South Africa and with thousands of wild animals sitting in hugely problematic private zoos.
"Insofar as Monkey Town is concerned, we would expect that both CapeNature and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA conduct an urgent investigation into the allegations leveled against Monkey Town in terms of both the Animal Protection Act and the Performing Animal Protection Act", said Pickover. "Should they find anything at Monkey Town that contravenes either of these acts then they must take swift and decisive steps that will best serve the welfare needs of the animals at Monkey Town. If this means the removal of animals to facilities better able to take care of them, then this should be done without delay. ARA will assist in sourcing new homes for any Monkey Town animals," she said. "In fact, we have already identified sanctuaries that can provide good homes for any wild animals that might be removed from unsuitable living conditions there."
ARA takes a moral and social stand against the cruelty involved with the existence of zoos in South Africa and its distasteful locale within the colonial notion of 'exhibition'. Zoos and dolphinariums abuse animals' rights, mainly because of the confinement and exhibition purely for human profit, entertainment and amusement. Zoos are not real 'green' spaces, 'living classrooms' or places where children can develop an ecological consciousness. Rather, the alternative to species extinction is to conserve animals in in situ sanctuaries and natural habitat preservation rather than zoos. Huge amounts of money spent by zoos all over the world to secure wild animals for exhibition could be better spent on preserving habitat in the country of origin. The long-term the fundamental reasons for wild animals becoming endangered needs to be addressed in order to truly protect wild animals, their environment and habitat. Alarmingly, zoos are not only breeding excessively, but this is an activity that is aggressively encouraged, particularly because young cubs and baby animals are more of an attraction and because animals bred in zoos and are often sold for profit via dealers. This is how zoo animals end up in the pet trade; as victims of canned hunts; or as breeding animals for the cruel wildlife trade.
"There is an urgent need to bring the private zoo industry in South Africa to book and to subject them to public scrutiny. ARA will be calling on government to institute a Commission of Enquiry to address this problem" said Pickover.
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