Tiger death focuses scrutiny on ethics of keeping animals in captivity
Hyderabad--On the heels of the gruesome slaying and skinning of Saki, a tiger at the Nehru Zoological Park, PETA is unveiling a new ad criticizing zoos and featuring international male model Mola, who appears painted and caged under the headline "Exotic Animals Don’t Belong in Cages."
Mola, moved by the plight of animals in cages, decided to take part in PETA’s new zoo ad, which is being released after Saki’s death at the hands of poachers, who allegedly gained access to her cage with the help of zoo staff. Mola’s action follows an ad featuring American film star Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks, Vampires) that PETA had launched earlier this year after the deaths of 13 tigers, deer and other animals at the Bhubaneswar Zoo in Orissa.
Torn from their families and natural homes, animals in zoos suffer from boredom, stress and grief. A worldwide study of zoos conducted by the Born Free Foundation revealed that zoochosis, a mental illness caused by captivity, is rampant in animals in zoos. Confined animals are known to display abnormal, psychotic behaviors such as head-bobbing, pacing, biting of cage bars and self-mutilation.
"The expression on the face of Saki’s brother after the killing, a look of total wide-eyed fear, has broken the hearts of people around the world," says PETA India Director of Investigations, Poorva Joshipura. "It is not only the lack of security in these rundown, dirt- and cement-floored pits in which these animals live that is depressing, but also the day-to-day conditions they are forced to endure".
PETA has written to the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka–all states which have had tragic zoo deaths–asking them to place the animals that are able to live in the wild back into their natural homes or in a wildlife sanctuary where they can live the rest of their lives out in peace. PETA has also written to the national Minister of Environment and Forests and is asking officials to adopt a no new animals policy for all zoos and put an end to their breeding programs so that no more animals are born only to live a life of hell. Such a policy would not only benefit animals but also India’s taxpayers since the estimated cost of care for one animal in a zoo is sixteen times more than supporting an animal in the wild. After all, it is the poachers that need to be punished, not the animals.
