(PH) Animal Day debate: Should Manila Zoo be shut down?

[Guest guest]

Animal Day debate: Should Manila Zoo be shut down?

 

By Allison Lopez, Tina Santos

Inquirer

10/04/2007

 

MANILA, Philippines -- As the world observes Animal

Day on Thursday, a debate rages on whether the Manila

Zoo should be shut down.

 

With more than 700 creatures crammed inside the

facility, the country's oldest and one of the region's

first, rights groups are calling for its closure and

protesting the alleged mistreatment of the creatures

penned inside.

 

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

said the zoo animals should be returned to the wild --

their natural habitat -- because most of them

exhibited " zoochosis, " a condition where animals are

driven " mad " by captivity.

 

As concern for the residents of the Manila Zoo mounts,

animal lovers elsewhere celebrate this day with

fund-raising and information campaigns and other

special events.

 

Oct. 4 was designated World Animal Day because it is

the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, a nature lover

and patron saint of animals and the environment.

 

" It's really sad, " said Mona Consunji, board secretary

of the Animal Welfare Coalition, of the Manila Zoo's

current state. " That elephant, I think is already

going crazy, " referring to Mali, prancing about in his

small pen near the gate.

 

" If you watch that elephant for 30 minutes, you’d see

that it's doing the same thing over and over again, "

she said.

 

But while PETA wants the creatures to go back to their

environment, Consunji said her group of 15

nongovernment animal rights groups disagreed because

the zoo animals would not stand a chance in the wild.

 

" We do not agree with that because the animals cannot

sustain themselves anymore ... Where will you put

them, in a sanctuary? Will (PETA) spend for it? If you

do a campaign, you provide a solution, " she said.

 

The foreign case of dolphin " Keiko, " who was released

from a zoo and died four months after, showed that

captive animals had lost their ability to hunt for

their own food, Consunji added.

 

Better care needed

 

So instead, Consunji said zoo animals should just

receive better care, and proper space --certainly

lacking in the 5.5-hectare area along Adriatico and

Mabini Streets in Malate, Manila.

 

" We're not for zoos, but Manila Zoo, because it's

already existing, they should rehabilitate the animals

and improve their condition and confinement, " she

said.

 

Indeed, much work has to be done inside the zoo

despite recent physical facelifts.

 

As for " zoochosis, " Dr. Donald Manalastas, chief of

the Manila Zoo's zoological division, claimed none of

the animals had it and if they did, they addressed it

immediately with " behavioral programs. "

 

" Like this wooden device we made for the monkeys. We

would put food inside it, and they would have to think

of how to get it, " Manalastas said.

 

In an earlier interview, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said

he would add more animals to the zoo's 92 species from

Calauit Island in Palawan.

 

Gradual phaseout

 

Consunji vehemently opposed Lim's plan.

 

" Keep them in Calauit, they're doing fine there. They

shouldn't add more animals, they should just make the

area bigger, " she said, adding that would reject any

moves to import animals not endemic to the

Philippines.

 

Consunji said her group was for a " gradual phaseout "

of the Manila Zoo and other such facilities -- meaning

wait for the current crop of zoo animals to pass away

without replacing them.

 

Various media features on wildlife, she added, should

make up for the zoo's loss.

 

Endangered species

 

" I think that's good enough because we have to keep

them in the wild. I think it's a privilege for us to

see one, " she said. " We don't want any more zoos to

open, so let's just keep what we already have and

improve their confinement. "

 

The Animal Welfare Coalition, which supports people

who take care of rescued animals, said attention

should be given instead to species dwindling in

numbers.

 

" What we need is more places to rehabilitate

endangered species, more sanctuaries. It's the

government's role but the private sector can also help

them with that. It's their job to protect our

animals, " Consunji said.

 

Another animal rights group, Philippine Animal Welfare

Society (PAWS), agrees, saying zoo facilities hold

little educational value and " were not even 1 percent

of what these animals' natural habitats are. "

 

" While it may be argued that there is no such thing as

'the wild' anymore because we have lost a lot of our

forests, jungles, etc. still, the thrust should be to

create sanctuaries or reserves -- not zoos, " said Anna

Cabrera of PAWS.

 

Cabrera explained that in sanctuaries, an attempt to

protect even a portion of the animals' natural habitat

was being undertaken.

 

Paying back

 

" There is also an effort to rehabilitate animals for

eventual release to the wild. Or, if this is not

possible, sanctuaries aim to let the animals roam or

live in peace with their " herd " or co-species, so

that, at least, we humans attempt to " pay back " what

we took away from them when we built our cities, homes

and decimated their living areas (forests, etc.), "

Cabrera explained.

 

However, unlike PETA, PAWS doesn't actively campaign

for the closure of existing zoos as it cited its

limited personnel and financial resources.

 

" We choose to focus on what we think are more pressing

animal welfare issues like stopping dogfights, the dog

meat trade; educating people about responsible pet

ownership, and kind treatment of animals in general

and attempting to change for the better people's

perceptions about native dogs, " Cabrera said.

 

The head of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau is

also cautioning PETA against calling for the hasty

closure of the Manila Zoo or any other zoo in Metro

Manila.

 

Alternative facility

 

PAWB Director Theresa Mundita Lim said the zoo or any

zoo could not be shut down without looking for an

alternative facility for the animals and assessing

their behavior, condition and fitness to go back to

the wild.

 

" You can’t just shut down a zoo if you don't know

where to place them. That has been the practice in

other countries. You have to find out where they

should go, " Lim said in an interview.

 

After years in captivity, animals may no longer know

how to capture prey, and may end up dying in

starvation, she said.

 

" Some of the animals in Manila Zoo have been there for

so many years. They can't survive in the wild. There

has to be behavioral assessment to see if they can

still survive in the wild, " Lim said.

 

With reports from TJ Burgonio and Nancy Carvajal

 

[Photo: FRIENDS OF ST. FRANCIS. Even as the pro-zoo

and animal rights activists' debate intensifies, both

proponents and opponents agree on one thing: The feast

of the patron of birds and the environment, St.

Francis of Assisi, richly deserves to be celebrated

Thursday. The state of the Manila Zoo is shown on the

long face of the orangutan and a haggard elephant.

PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/EDWIN BACASMAS]

 

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