Zoos are controversial. PETA in particular is currently expressing loud criticism – and is taking action. The organization reported several German zoos.
Augsburg – Zoos are very popular, but not without controversy. Many love visiting the Tiergarten, in order to be able to observe different animal species, some of them exotic, up close. Others, on the other hand, find the concept cruel, as it is not species-appropriate to lock up animals and put them on display.
PETA criticizes zoos in Germany – “Put on display”
The last group includes PETA. “Humans, like chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, are biologically part of the great apes family. However, our closest relatives are still displayed in zoos,” the organization said in a press release on April 3. PETA sees the reason for this in speciesism – “the assumption that humans are superior to living beings of other species and have the right to exploit them.”
The animal protection organization points out in the communication that “the minimum requirements of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, which have been in force since 2014 for zoological facilities, have still not been implemented at many husbandry locations.”
PETA reports German zoos: “It’s a crime”
This is particularly the case in the indoor enclosures, where the animals have to endure most of the time in winter. There, the specifications were “sometimes blatantly” undercut, sometimes by around two thirds of the area. PETA therefore filed criminal charges against those responsible for ten German zoos in April. In addition, the animal rights organization appeals to these institutions and to politicians to end the captivity of great apes in zoos altogether.
“It is a crime to lock up great apes for alleged species protection reasons – but in fact for the amusement of the zoo public,” says biologist Dr. Yvonne Würz, PETA’s specialist for animals in the entertainment industry. “Especially unacceptable is the fact that zoos disregard animal welfare regulations. Genetically, only nuances separate us from our closest relatives, not to mention the emotional world and complex needs of all great apes. We must break away from the speciesist way of thinking and urgently end the inhumane captivity.”
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PETA reports Augsburg Zoo – “not a species-appropriate habitat”
In addition to the zoos in Berlin, Dresden, Duisburg, Halle, Krefeld, Landau and Stralsund, PETA also reported the zoo in Augsburg. The same applies to the zoo in Gettorf and the zoo in Schwaiger.
“The needs of great apes are so complex that no zoo can offer them a species-appropriate habitat,” the animal rights organization criticized. For them it is extremely psychologically stressful to be locked up for life. In zoos, they would often develop significant behavioral problems. (came)
Two cats were discovered in Bayreuth in an airtight package, the perpetrator or perpetrators are not yet known. Now the animal protection organization PETA wants to help.
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