It appears that it's early Christmas this year for the Spanish anti-zoo lobby, as according to the latest Spanish animal rights update, Spanish zoos shall be turned into 'centres for the recovery of native species'. I do wonder what will happen to the non-native wild animals then. Will they just magically disappear? Be released into the Spanish countryside to become "native"? Spain's new animal rights law bans pigeon shooting, zoos and dolphinariums
Wasn't there something similar to this a few years ago that ended up being nothing of concern? I can't currently access the article but are we sure that this means the end of zoos in Spain?
If I remember correctly, a proposition of that nature was brought up about six years ago and has now found its way into legislation. But also in Spain, the evening crowns the day...
From what I have seen, the law is not actually very precise in how it impacts zoos. I have read lots of news stories in an attempt to get clarification. Many of them focus on the point about native species but I have also read that there should be an emphasis on conservation. Either way, I am confident that zoos in Spain aren’t suddenly going to have to close. The minister has been widely quoted as saying: «Vamos a reconvertir los zoológicos y delfinarios en lugares para la conservación de especies para que nuestros hijos aprendan que nuestra labor es cuidarlos y protegerlos». “We are going to convert zoos and dolphinariums to places for the conservation of species for our children to learn that our job is to care for and protect them” So I’m not too concerned at all as that is what good zoos are already doing.
This is another case where journalists do a very bad job in describing what a proposed law actually means. I asked a friend who is familiar with Spain/Spanish zoos what exactly is happening and apparently this piece of journalism could be done better by any of us. This proposed law has just left the cabinet as it is fit for debate now, though a version of the bill will probably get passed by parliament within a few months. The law itself is apparently quite vague and chaotic, but not dangerous for zoos. What it actually says is that it will ban the keeping of animals for commercial purposes (but excluding farm animals (except fur farms), bull fighting and zoos). Zoos are exempted and will continue to be allowed to keep, breed and exchange exotic animals. They are however expected to focus more on conservation, education and research, but most major zoos probably already fit the descriptions that this bill deems necessary. It does seem to propose a ban of keeping species in captivity that do not adapt to captivity, but for research or conservation purposes this does not apply. This might be a loophole that people will use to try to ban cetaceans, but chances of success are probably slim as zoos could just as easily defend that the species adapt to captivity and are used for research and conservation purposes. Local legislation that Barcelona Zoo has to work with is stricter. So all in all it seems that this is more of a motivation for Spanish zoos to up their game and it could well have a positive effect for zoo animals.
