To report this zoo

[belimoo]

I went to an animal experience today (in the U.K.). It was a birthday present which I thought I'd love and was very much looking forward to.

However, on arrival it immediately felt sad and I felt bad for every animal I saw. The enclosures seemed small and cold and the animals were listless, This was the case throughout the medium sized park.

As part of the experience I saw three types of animals and fed them. Two of these seemed quite happy and engaged but the rest of the animals were buried in wet straw and I couldn't see anything in their lives which might give them any joy or freedom.

I know I was naive and stupid to go there in the first place. The keepers were knowledgeable and genuinely seemed to care about the animals but I don't know how they could ignore the bleak desperation of it all. There was a giant tortoise who kept bashing his shell against the walls in an attempt to get out.

What can/should do I do in this situation? Am I overreacting? Should I try to talk to the RSPCA? I feel I have to do something and can't just leave them there but don't know what is possible or realistic.

@FurAndFeathers hmm, I think you're thinking of the same one I have in mind too. I did work experience there when I was young - never again! I was put in some scary situations with dangerous animals!

Idoitic take.
Problem: habitat loss/human exploitation in the wild
Solution: put the animals cages and sell tickets.

Are you talking about Cumbria Safari Zoo? Was south lakes?

Don't visit zoos and animal attractions.
By paying them entry fees, you're supporting their "work"
Just don't do it.

Last yime I went to zoo my ticket paid for upkeep of modern large spaces, return of Horse przewalski to Mongolian wilderness, Gorilla safety programme in Cameroon and preservation efforts for Egyptian vulture in Europe, amongst other things.
The zoo had signs around habitats that if you cannot see the animal because they are hiding in the grass or bushes, tough luck. They are there to breed.

Some zoos are not like the other and concrete zoos don't belong

I visited a small zoo in California which was disappointing (think not many "exhibits") lots of things were shut/ unavailable, empty displays. Possibly seasonal.

The only animals I saw looked utterly miserable, think Eagle trapped in small enclosure not sufficiently high for them to fly much at all - just like a prison. Sad bored primates and a lonely desert fox

I posted my review on trip advisor and they posted a harsh comment about my feedback. The animals had clean bedding and food/water but it looked very cramped. I guess zoos in the US have less regulation. It was like 75% of the spaces were empty and had we known that we wouldn't have bothered (and that it didn't provide value for money so we were disappointed).

No

Yep we should definitely send all the polar bears there!

what an idiotic comment

Zoos have to meet certain conditions for their licences
These are issued by the local authority. Contact them if you want information or raise concerns.
But, I don't think miserable looking animals in November is an RSPCA issue.

biaza.org.uk If they are registered might be able to help. or local authorities as suggested.
RSPCA won’t give a shit, the bar for them with zoos is exceptionally low

I refuse to visit any zoo. (Though I'm sure some have positive breeding programs) Like the meat and dairy industry I will not fund abuse.

I found this organisation:
wildwelfare.org/report-a-concern/

It provides steps to follow if you are concerned. You can also contact them through an online reporting form.

They work with organisations to help them make changes. Sounds really good.

I don't think that you are overeacting at all. I would feel the same! Don't beat yourself up. You are not stupid. You sound very caring and your visit might result in improvements for these animals.

Born Free
Local Council that licences the zoo
RSPCA.
All their contact details are online. Describe your concerns.
Job done.

Report report report

I was shocked after I visited London's Zoo. Even my 3,5 year old son asked why its so dirty and all animals upset. I couldn't believe it's a zoo in one of the biggest Europe cities.
Poo everywhere, animals so skinny, rats were running around. Never ever.

@FurAndFeathers no I don't think there was a small railway.

Thank you 🙏

And thank you to all the others who have suggested where to report, I will follow them all up.

Rats are there because there’s food and bedding. They cannot poison the rats as it may harm their animals. There are rats at every animal places, farms, zoos etc.

the animals at london and whipsnade aren’t skinny. They have teams of nutritionists and experts who do field work to ensure the animals are fed as close to natural diet as possible - you should see the feed rooms and prep rooms, utterly spotless and well stocked. So much thought and research is done into it, what you think you saw is not what you saw. They are genuinely world leaders in the field.

i can’t comment on dirty the place is, I wasn’t there the day you were.

Indeed. The Zoo we are members of operates and funds a network of education and breeding centres all over the world, and the majority of animals they keep here at the Zoo are severely endangered and part of the worlds remaining stock to prevent extinction. Unfortunately we're now in a position that we can't just put all Orangutans back into the wild, because they'd be wiped from the face of the earth by humans within a decade.

There are no big animals just for show at our Zoo, no big cats, no elephants, no polar bears, no giraffes or Zebras.

It saddens me that some visitors to our area will see the word 'Zoo' and immediately write it off with no more research. Not all Zoos are the same.

You can say the name of the zoo, OP. There’s no need to be mysterious. Unless you’ve posted about it on social media and don’t want to be outed.

There are good zoos out there that do good work but there are a lot of shit zoos too, unfortunately.

Not all are bad and if it weren't for zoos most animals would be extinct

I used to work in a zoo. Please don’t use born free - they do more harm than good.

Don’t bother with the rspca. They have low standards and to be honest- they’re too busy to care.

You can try the local authority as they are the ones who issue the license. However, they are automatically biased in favour of the zoo as it’s a local attraction that brings in money (an issue in itself with zoo licensing).

If the zoo is a member of BIAZA, EAZA or WAZA you can contact them. Wild welfare are also a good organisation to contact.

However, please remember everything you see is a snapshot of that animals day. The weather has been very wet and dreary recently - so that will already make things seem more ‘grim’ and depressing. Bed was wet? Did you see inside the indoor area or other areas of bedding? You might have just seen it before the bed was replaced and cleaned.

Animals inactive? Likely because of the weather. Could be part of their routine that they rest at the time you saw them.

Visitors do get a very narrow view of things, they don’t see everything that goes on behind the scenes or the animals entire day. There are issues with zoos, how some of them are run and certainly the licensing. In all honesty, unless the situation is really bad (like south lakes several years ago), not much is likely to come of it. Please consider everything carefully before you report.

Exactly.
I believe the one my family and many friends have annual tickets to has nearly 9000 square meters space for elephants and hippos. It's massive and really nice project.
It's zoos like this which are worth it. Though even these good ones can still do better! There are always lessons learned.

I love the idea of going to the zoo to see animals but generally leave feeling despondent. I felt like that after visiting a zoo in the summer, it certainly didn’t feel like paradise for the animals.

Thank you @Otterock I did mean it when I asked whether I was overreacting. I'm not sure that they're doing anything 'wrong' in terms of what the rules are. I can't imagine an animal in a cage in dreary cold November is ever going to look happy, no matter how much space or good nutrition they have. A lot of these animals are from hot countries though, so how are we allowed to keep them here in the cold and rain at all?

I'm not trying to be mysterious by not naming it. I just don't want to slate a place when I'm conscious that I'm not an expert on these things and may be reacting emotionally without knowing all the facts.

It just seems so sad to see large birds in cages where they don't get to properly fly and other animals living on their own with nothing to play with or hunt. That's the nature of zoos though isn't it. That's why I feel a bit stupid posting this.

The worst one to see was the large tortoise, just pacing around the four walls of its small enclosure, bashing its shell against the walls and unable to even see out of the window we were looking in through. Maybe that's just because it should be hibernating at the moment though and it lives somewhere else in summer?