Costa Rica introduced final week that it might shut its two remaining state zoos, greater than a decade after it handed a regulation to ban protecting wild animals in government-sponsored captivity however was met with authorized blowback.
Costa Rica’s Ministry of Atmosphere and Power stated in an announcement on Saturday that it might not renew its contract with Fundazoo, a basis that had run the zoos. The transfer will shut the nation’s final two state zoos: the Simón Bolívar Zoo and the Santa Ana Conservation Middle.
State officers final week started transferring 287 animals from the 2 services to a rehabilitation heart, the place the well being of the animals shall be evaluated to find out what setting will finest swimsuit them. Among the animals have been in captivity for greater than 30 years, the ministry stated.
Franz Tattenbach, the minister of setting and power, stated on Saturday that Costa Rica would transfer towards working sanctuaries for animals that can’t return to to the wild.
“Captivity is just justified when animals can not return to the forest for both bodily or behavioral issues that forestall them from dwelling in freedom,” Mr. Tattenbach stated in Spanish in a video on Fb. “This closure consolidates Costa Rica’s imaginative and prescient of wildlife safety.”
The transfer to not renew Costa Rica’s contract with Fundazoo, closing the nation’s public zoos, got here greater than a decade after Costa Rica handed a wildlife safety regulation in 2013 that banned protecting wildlife in captivity. Costa Rica’s state run zoos have been supposed to shut in 2014, however the regulation was met with authorized appeals by Fundazoo, which delayed closing the general public zoos, in accordance with the FAADA Basis, an wildlife nonprofit.
“The closure of the state zoos is a vital step ahead,” FAADA stated in an announcement. “We be part of within the celebration of this historic achievement.”
The regulation doesn’t apply to 18 personal zoos in Costa Rica, in accordance with FAADA.
Fundazoo didn’t reply to requests for touch upon Tuesday.
José Pablo Vásquez, a biologist with a authorities group that oversees conservation efforts, stated in an announcement on Saturday that a list had been taken of the animals faraway from the 2 zoos they usually have been being evaluated by groups of biologists and veterinarians.
Mr. Tattenbach stated that animals can be positioned in a quarantine earlier than groups decided whether or not they might be reintroduced to the wild or if they’d be finest taken care of at a sanctuary. Some animals had but to be transferred out of the zoos as of Tuesday, together with an alligator and a few turtles, the ministry stated.
Dr. Darryl Heard, an affiliate professor of zoological drugs on the College of Florida, stated that in some situations, it may take years earlier than animals have been prepared for the wild, and that some animals may not be capable to return to the wild in any respect.
“In the event that they’ve been away from the wild or in the event that they have been captive-born, then they’ve not been in a position to develop essentially the talents to feed themselves, shield themselves from predators and so forth,” Dr. Heard stated.
Dr. Alonso Aguirre, dean of the Warner Faculty of Pure Assets at Colorado State College, stated that some animals can wrestle returning to the wild, noting how Keiko, the whale featured within the film “Free Willy,” had died after being launched.
“So many of those animals, the one factor they know is captivity,” Dr. Aguirre stated.
Costa Rica may set an instance for different international locations on the way to transfer away from zoos, whereas protecting some species protected, he stated.
“We have now to get away from captivity,” Dr. Aguirre stated. “I believe that’s an enormous lesson for the world. If Costa Rica can do it, all people else can.”
Whereas some wildlife advocates in North America have referred to as for closing zoos, Dr. Heard stated that it was a “very advanced situation” that ought to concentrate on animal conservation.
“I do know that there are issues that also want enchancment,” Dr. Heard stated of zoos. “However there’s typically been a optimistic development in remediating these points.”
