Got the bus from Rabat. Nice walk through the twisty lanes. Nice sunny day. But shock horror when we got there. At the entrance 15 euros each was 'demanded' - take it or leave it. Our first impression was 'park' - where was that? All we saw were concrete cages with animals trapped in them in the hot sun. These were big animals - lions, tigers, bears - all in tiny cages with concrete floors. The 6 (maybe 7) tigers were all in a double storied wire cage. Tigers are territorial - so how can they exist stress free all crammed / cramped in together? The white lion 'cub' had a tyre hanging on a rope to play with. Big deal. So much for mental enrichment. There was a magnificent male baboon / macaque sitting in an elevated wire cage. There was nothing for it to play with. But the most upsetting exhibits at the exit were two very young baby monkeys - obviously removed from their parents. They were in a wire cage each with an infrared lamp shining down. They had no nests to hide in. There were plenty of notices about no photography. So we took plenty. These have been circulated to animal welfare groups including Monkey World in Dorset. This place in Malta is a travesty of a zoo, wild life park, whatever. BTW we abandoned any thoughts of eating here - the meals were grossly over-priced and had to be booked in advance - and the treatment of the animals was too upsetting.
@S Byers thanks for mentioning this. I visited in June and really didn't like it. Some of my experiences were different to yours - although some tigers were mixed, I didn't see such numbers, for instance. The general poor cleanliness and poor conditions were very unpleasant. This is unfortunately one of the worst zoos I've been to recently.
If they are a member of Zooinstitutes why haven't they got their act together yet with the abyssmal way they house their animals ?
I've now uploaded a series of photos from this place (in the 'Malta- Other' gallery)\. I took plenty more 'overview' shots on my phone but can't find them at the moment.
