News from the Natural World: Zoo Animals struggling in the pandemic say their souls died long ago anyway.
Zoos struggling in the pandemic have said that the UK government hasn’t done enough. In those zoos many Animals are at risk unless the government changes its Covid-19 funding. The Zoo Animals Fund was created by the government to help zoos facing financial trouble in the pandemic with £100m available. In a letter to the Human Prime Minister, the British and Irish Association for Zoos and Aquariums (Biaza) says the fund has “failed to provide” adequate support. Out of 300 licensed zoos, 34 have been awarded funding, with a further 23 applications being processed. This makes up £6m of the £100m available and major wildlife attractions such as London Zoo remain ineligible for help. Zoos are currently shut-in this lockdown. Many are concerned about the animals welfare so we decided to ask some of the animals themselves.
We decided to interview Asim, one of the Tigers at London Zoo. “Well I was moved to the Zoo as a new mate for resident female, Melati. They transported me all the way from Denmark. It was incredibly traumatising for me. They put me into a cramped cage. Then they put me in a giant flying loud machine. It was horrible. The journey traumatised me. In fact, when I met Melati we had a fight and I killed her. You, humans, don’t realise what you’re doing to us. Do you know how far a Sumatran Tiger roams in the wild?? Our range is 52 km2 for a male and 27 km2 for the female. Have you seen the size of the enclosure at London Zoo? They call it Tiger Territory when it’s barely 5% of the territory I need!”
Zoo Animals Struggling in Pandemic
Asim was really hitting his stride now. “I’ve heard all these humans concerned about zoo animals in lockdown and due to the pandemic. They all seem so concerned now that humans are experiencing being caged themselves. If you think you feel bad in the warmth of your home, with Netflix and online groceries how bad do you think I feel when I’m meant to be roaming 52 km2 of the dense Sumatran jungle and you’ve got me in a crappy corner of Regents Park in London!?”
Asim was pacing up and down in his cage now “I heard a rumour that there are only 400 of my species left in the wild. So humans have gone and nearly wiped out my species, then caged the rest of my species and forced them to breed in unnatural centres all over the world. Is this meant to save us? If these centres are really about saving my species then why the F*CK is the centre in London or Denmark for that matter!?