THE future of the Limassol zoo is hanging in the balance, as it has been operating without a licence since February 2003 and is in breach of the EU zoo directive, according to Patricia Kyriacou from Animal Responsibility Cyprus (ARC).
Animal rights activists in Cyprus in 1999 managed to close down the dolphinarium in Ayia Napa and have vowed not to stop campaigning against Limassol zoo.
Kyriacou said yesterday that animals at the zoo remained confined in diminutive cages and suffering from neglect. The EU zoo directive clearly defines a zoo, Kyriacou said, and Limassol doesn’t fit the bill.
First and foremost a zoo is a place for the conservation of animals and the breeding of endangered animals, which are then released into the wild and their natural habitats.
“So the lion should not be in the Limassol zoo as it is only one of its kind and not being bred. Nor is there any intention to allow the lion back into the wild,” said Kyriacou.
She added they had tried explaining to the zoo and the authorities that conservation costs millions of pounds. “The zoo must also be a member of the EAZA (the European Zoos Association), have scientists and laboratories. This is something the zoo could never achieve,” said Kyriacou.
She stressed the zoo had been operating unlicensed and illegally, and could not get a license now, as it does not meet with EU zoo legislation.
Kyriacou explained that conservation means that the animal must be registered in a studbook in order to determine the gene pool of the animal. However, she said most of the animals at the zoo had been neutered so this was not possible.
“We are campaigning to get the authorities to enforce the law,” said Kyriacou. The law was passed in 2002, but she says it exists only on paper. “There is nobody appointed to implement the law.”
“The same law was passed by the Czech Republic, a sister accession country. However, the difference is they did something about it. An officer was appointed with responsibility for the zoo legislation,” said Kyriacou: a Zoo Commission was established and eight officers appointed; zoos were then given until the end of 2003 to apply for licence and they did. “It is simple. The applications are then screened by the officers, then recommend to the Ministry whether or not a license should be given,” said Kyriacou.
She referred to the dolphinarium campaign and said that the ARC would follow the same procedure to close the zoo. They are preparing a full dossier that will be given to Ministers and MPs.
Kyriacou said she was appalled to see how the two bears lived at the zoo. “They are in a small concrete cage with no grass, nothing but some water,” said Kyriacou, adding they had been there under abominable conditions for 10 years.
“We have filed appeals to the zoo to provide substrate and branches that bears love, but the zoo adamantly refuses to provide these basics,” said Kyriacou.
The authorities at the zoo were unavailable for comment.
