Basic Welfare Requirements Not Met
Food and water is a basic need of all animals in captivity. Fresh, potable water should be available to each animal at all times. When many animals are housed together in an enclosure, there should be a sufficient number of watering stations to prevent dominant animals from monopolizing access to the drinking water. Shockingly even this basic welfare requirement is too often ignored at roadside zoos. During our investigations, a number of zoo animals were found with only dirty water to drink or without any water at all.
Zoo managers must consider each species’ specific dietary requirements when determining the type of food and frequency of feeding times. Since many wild animals spend the majority of their day searching or hunting for food, the way food is presented to zoo animals is important to consider in order to stimulate activity and prevent boredom and frustration.
Food acquisition activity can comprise more than half of a wild animal’s daily
activity, so it’s important for zookeepers to encourage the expression of natural
food-related behaviours. If food acquisition activities are completely eliminated,
animals will be bored and inactive. |
Many roadside zoos encourage the public to feed the animals. As a result of unrestricted feeding, animals are likely to become obsessed with food handouts and typically spend the majority of the day waiting by the fence, begging for visitors to feed them. These animals are likely to become overweight and suffer from improper nutrition. With few employees to monitor what each animal is being fed, animals at roadside zoos have been observed eating all sorts of inappropriate food items like candy and popcorn. Public feeding should also be prohibited to decrease the numerous health risks to both humans and animals as a result of direct contact.
Example of the educational signage at Pineridge Zoo in Grand Bend where
the public is encouraged to feed the animals.
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Feed dispenser at Bowmanville Zoo.
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Most of the exhibits at Pineridge Zoo in Grand Bend did not have adequate stand-off barriers to prevent the public from having direct contact with the animals. Some exhibits did not have any stand-off barriers at all. |
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