Does anyone have any further details of the outcome of the investigation into misconduct at Papegaaienpark NOP? A brief article in Cage and Aviary Birds last week made mention of an under cover documentary made at the place. Apparently birds were going missing, deaths were unrecorded and dead birds were found around the place. For certain the collection boasts one of the most diverse range of species I've witnessed in one place and some real rarities too but I was not overly impressed with conditions.
Indeed there was such a documentary. I haven’t seen it to be honest, but the general point was that each year loads of new animals were brought in, but that the number of birds in the park didn’t really grow, so many animals died. Including the pet animals brought in by people that are certain that their bird was 100% healthy. In the documentary the undercover guy found that sometimes animals don’t get fed because there is not enough staff. It rest mostly on volunteers, but some of them don’t keep strict working hours so if they don’t show up to work, the animals will not eat. Now, or soon, The former director of Rotterdam zoo, Mr Dorresteyn, will start an investigation to find out what the problem is and whether the accusations are true.
I have seen the documentary, and not only was it one of the worst feats of journalism i have ever witnessed, it also brought on a HUGE load of reactions from just about everyone. The park was filmed without knowing, and they cut out and showed the worst quotes they managed to get on tape. Then they agressively interviewed the director with accusations and then cut out the worst part of this interview as well. The vet claims that he was interviewed on the same day and he gave a statement that the high mortality rate wasn't that bad and very explainable but that wasn't shown on TV. Then they said that every parrot can live to at least 60 years, and because the avarage age of the animals taken in was 17 they should have at least 10.000 birds by now. Since they only have 2000, the rest must have died because of bad conditions. Not even closely taking into consideration the avarage age of parakeet/lori's/other birds, or the avarage age of parrots in captivity. Then they showed people who brought their pet in and claimed they were perfectly healthy and their pet had died. Without any mention of the size of the cage, exercise or diet the animal had. In the end though, the park does have a rather high mortality rate, and parrots did seem to end up dead due to conditions in the park (like high occupation of the aviaries, and perhaps poor care). It's not all great in the park, but that documentary was pants. Now the old director of Blijdorp Zoo will conduct an investigation, he's a man with a high reputation and i believe he'll do a good job
There are rumours on another zoo related website that the park is going to close very shortly, can anyone confirm this? I do not want to print the details on here, without any confirmation.
The park is investigating moving in with "Dierenrijk" at Mierlo. The owner of "Dierenrijk" is a large leisure organisation (Libema) that also owns (among other) Safaripark Beekse Bergen. They are planning to move all the animals to Dierenrijk, and then hold a large portion behind the scenes. The main reason given is that the city of Eindhoven does not allow them to grow on their current location, but i guess money and continuïty also must be an issue. It's not all a done deal yet, they are negotiating with the local government of "Mierlo" (where Dierenrijk lies) on expanding "Dierenrijk".
The last message that was sent into the news by Libema was that Libema wanted to cancel the plans due to lack of mutual understandig with the current board of directors of the NOP. The directors of NOP said that was a bit harsh and premature, they admitted that there where differences but not surpassable and said that they where confident that they would overcome their differences.
NOP has been declared bankrupt by the court. The park was already closed for a few days. What will happen to the park and the animals is still unclear....
Just a few minutes ago on television : NOP has a new owner. A privat-keeper of raptors has bought it for Euro 3.000.000. First thing to do is some renovation and it's hoped to open again within a few months.
I really do hope that the collection will not be diminished but fear that the sheer number of birds there was the problem in the first place (aside from withdrawn funding and reduced custom in recent times). Either way, this is surely good news.
