Venezuela: “Animals in captivity are condemned to die slowly of starvation and extermination"

Maybe, you might be wondering: How can they let this happen? Yes, that's what's been happening throughout almost all venezuelan zoos, since 2016.

On the premise that a healthy zoo, will automatically translate into healthy animals, we saying to the world that, it's not merely sensitivity to the harm done to animals that makes action necessary, but also the awareness that it is only a small step from cruelty to animals to cruelty to humans.

In January, workers at the Metropolitan Park Zoo in the sweltering city of Maracaibo near the Colombian border reported that zoo administrators had ordered them to sacrifice the most emaciated animals to feed others, and the Venezuela Government prohibited enter zoos with camera and the use of video cameras to film.

Pigs, ducks and goats have had to be slaughtered to feed other species at the Metropolitan Park Zoo in Maracaibo, closed to visitors in February after discovering overwhelming images of hungry beasts. An african lion, a bengal tiger, a jaguar, several ocelot and birds of prey, all carnivores, appear on the list of undernourished, including two pumas who have lost so much weight their bones are clearly visible sticking through their skin. What we have seen in Zulia is something you see in countries at war. All because of politics, of which the animals know nothing.

Since 2016, the National Parks Institute (INPARQUES), which oversees the country’s zoos, blames the shortages on the nation's economic crash, caused by a plummet in the price of oil, and the workers denounced the death of 50 animals have starved in the last six months, at one of Venezuela's main zoos. The fatalities at the Caricuao zoo in Caracas include Vietnamese pigs, tapirs, rabbits and birds, some of which had not eaten for two weeks, according to Marlene Sifontes, a union leader for employees of state parks agency Inparques, which oversees zoos. The government denied the animals had starved, insisting they had been treated “like family.”

Currently, lions and tigers at the Caracas zoo are being fed mango and pumpkin by anxious staff to make up for reduced rations of meat, while an elephant is eating tropical fruit instead of its usual diet of hay. Other big cats are reportedly being fed slaughtered Thoroughbred horses from the racetrack "La Rinconada". As with all shortages in Venezuela, the situation for zoos is worse outside the capital, though wardens are looking for ways to keep animals alive.

Source

The story of the animals at Caricuao is a metaphor for Venezuelan suffering. Such is the case of Ruperta, the elephant at Venezuela’s Caricuao Zoo, that everybody avoids talking about. In 1978 one of the zoo's most famous residents, the elephant Ruperta, arrived from Asia. Ruperta weighs 4 tons when it should weigh between 6 and 7 tons, and the government denied the elephant is starving, saying that a stomach ailment had caused her to lose weight and required her to be on a restricted diet. When neighbors tried to bring food to the elephant, zoo officials refused the donations, citing sanitary issues. The elephant is 45 years old.

In this context, Paris Jackson, daughter of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (RIP), has shown solidarity in social networks with the case of the elephant Ruperta.

Fuente

“Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man”
Arthur Schopenhauer - The Basis of Morality

Equally important is the fact that, Mexican actor, philanthropist and activist, Raúl Julia Levy said his foundation in Malibu was willing to help. In a Twitter message addressed to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he said: “I want to put my foundation at your service to save the animals of all the zoos in Venezuela".

Source

Unfortunately, Tuesday night , 22 May 2018, there was a big fire at Caricuao Zoo, and the animals died burned or suffocated. In this regard, the actor Raúl Julia Levy strongly deplores the fact that the Government had not accepted the help and the assistance offered by her foundation.

Source

On behalf of the animals protectionists in my country, we are very gratefulto the actor Raúl Julia Levy for your concern, for we face a very serious situation, and her request for donate food to our animals in the zoos has been denied by the government.

Source

Source

Source

I should also like to highlight the fact that, in order to achieve the highest possible degree of welfare of animals in captivity protection requirements actions are multidimensional, that is, combine vital aspects of food supply, product quality, environmentally, sanitary condition and Veterinary assistance. In the prevention veterinary case, this requirement also includes attention to the physical and behavioural status of the animal.

Source

The sorry state of Venezuelan Zoos caused a stir among the citizens, netizens after news and photos were posted online, resulting in the rise of the keywords “Zoológicos” as a popular trending topic on Twitter last year, twice. These ecosystems shelter species of animals that are generally threatened or in danger of extinction, and the Caribbean, on the other hand, is home to over 560 species of animals, more than 25 percent of which are endemic to the region, with 56 being globally threatened.

Source

If anyone has any doubts, I invite you to come to Venezuela and visit the zoos where our animals are dying of malnutrition and a lack of elementary veterinary care, because it's no secret to the civilized world, that Venezuela has been in a severe economic crisis for several years. Inflation is rapidly increasing and all sectors, private and public, are affected. This is unfortunately also the case in zoos where animals are subjected to increasingly deplorable conditions. Our animals deserve to live in peace, comfort and security.

I think it's important as well to remember that the animals don't synthesize vitamins them self, all the nutritional components have to come from feed. Species held in captivity are essential of the ecosystems that support all life on Earth.

Source

In this respect, special mention, that my country shares the legitimate concern that the only difference between extermination and genocide is the latter's requirement that an intention to eliminate a specific group be demonstrated, and animal cruelty is a despicable crime that should be rejected in all its forms, because it represents a practice to be morally reproachable in Venezuela, as well as violation of the "Law for the Protection of Fauna Domestic Free and in Captivity" : No person may, without good cause, inflict pain, suffering, injury o lasting harm on any animal.

At this moment, modern societies are implementing protected areas for wildlife and biodiversity, but Venezuela need help from the outside to save our animals in captivity.

I wish that "those who are voiceless in the world can make themselves heard".

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”
Mahatma Gandhi

Source
¡This is a Zoo and it's certainly not a prison!
Source