Déjà vu at London Zoo?

The Born Free Foundation has stated its dismay to learn from recent reports that, following the opening of London Zoo’s controversial Gorilla ”Kingdom" (£5.3 million), the Zoo now plans to redevelop its exhibits for Sumatran tigers at further great expense.

Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundation, said:

“The venerable captive animal institution may like to cite aggression and lack of reproductive interest between a male and female tiger as justification to redevelop its big cat exhibits. However, the announcement is more likely prompted by a requirement imposed on the zoo by Government Zoo Inspectors that plans for a new outdoor tiger paddock must be submitted - or else.

“We have seen this before at London Zoo: huge investment to shore up flagging public interest in seeing animals in captivity. It’s disturbing to think that it took the words of a government inspector to push the zoo to address the shortcomings of the current tiger enclosure, in which tigers have been living since 1976.

“Whatever the Zoo’s motivation, plans to redevelop the 1970’s Big Cat Terraces (at vast expense) fail to address several fundamental issues. While male and female tigers may tolerate each other in the wild, 24 hour enforced proximity is a different matter. It is therefore unsurprising that aggression occurs. What is perhaps more surprising is that, despite the relative ease with which tigers can be bred in captivity (as evidenced by the thousands of captive tigers languishing in Thailand, China and the USA), London Zoo has failed to breed their Sumatran tigers for at least the last 8 years.

“The advanced age of the zoo’s ‘bad tempered’ female Sarah, reportedly 14 years old, may be one explanation. The miserly size of their ‘habitat’ may be another. But whatever the reasons, we should be doubly concerned by the Zoo’s proposals. The glut of captive tigers worldwide has done nothing to address tiger conservation in the wild so captive-breeding is not the answer. And spending millions of pounds on a new big cat exhibit at London Zoo will only drain resources and effort away from what should be our number one priority – investment in real tiger conservation in the wild.”

In October last year, Born Free commented on the Gorilla ”Kingdom" exhibit saying:

"Over the years, London Zoo has repeatedly used expensive new exhibits in attempts to attract an ever-more sophisticated, and diminishing, public. Soon after it opened to the public in 1847, a hippopotamus was reportedly imported from Egypt to double attendances and prevent bankruptcy. In the early 1990’s, London Zoo was a whisker away from closure due to a financial crisis.

“The various plans put forward to save the Zoo at that time proposed astronomical sums for redevelopment (up to £61 million), and huge amounts of money were donated to keep the Zoo open. The Zoo did not close, but visitor numbers have never returned to the numbers seen in the late 1950’s (2.7 million), and, not withstanding the high-profile projects and high profile animals (for example the Giant pandas), the trend has been inexorably downward.

“The Gorilla "Kingdom" seems set to repeat that trend. Declining visitor numbers have been temporarily shored-up by massive financial input. The most recent and improved figures appear to be little more than a short-term reaction to this hugely expensive development. The Gorilla “Kingdom” reportedly cost more than £5 million.

“And, just as in the past, Born Free predicts that once the shine has worn off, once the public realise that behind the hype, the Gorilla " Kingdom " is little more than an acre of land for a dysfunctional group of 3 gorillas set in the centre of the 36 acre London Zoo site (itself just a 3% of the minimum normal home range for wild gorillas), numbers will slide once more…. Until the next multi-million pound attempt to revive their flagging fortunes.”

The Born Free Foundation concludes that the time has come for the Zoological Society of London to recognise changing public attitudes towards the keeping of animals in captivity, and to bring down the curtain on this outdated, out of touch and outrageously expensive edifice. If there are millions to be spent on wildlife then Born Free recommends that we direct the money, our energies and our talents towards real conservation and protection of wildlife in the wild where it belongs.