The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – On the 28th of July, the Simon Bolivar Zoo in San Jose, Costa Rica celebrated its 97th birthday with animal shows, food, drinks, and entertainment for the kids. But this could be the last birthday for this zoo.
Why?
The government in San Jose recently decided that all zoos should be closed. As a first step the Simon Bolivar Zoo and the Santa Ana Conservation Center are going to be closed next year. The parks will be transformed into botanical gardens and the animals are going to be transferred to shelters or sanctuaries. The prohibiton of zoos is only one of many phases in Costa Rican animal rights, seeing that wild animals in the circus are already banned. Also, since 2012 Costa Rica made hunting as a sport illegal.
Although animal rights activists are excited, this plan also has disadvantages. The sanctuaries are overcrowded, and it may be difficult to give every animal a new home, although many shelters are going to expand. For those looking to get involved, they will no doubt be looking for volunteers and donors to support the changes. In addition,there are questions of whether it will be easier for the animals to release them back into the wildlife or to keep them in a sanctuary.
This is a very debatable topic, which has a lot of advantages but also disadvantages that have to be considered. However, the government is still in discussion, so nothing is certain for the future of Costa Rica’s critters as of now.
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
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