Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)
Organisation to improve living conditions of caged animals
Awareness: ACRES is devoted to the welfare of animals. Their aim is to improve the living conditions and welfare of animals in captivity, and foster respect and compassion for all animals, especially by educating people. (Photo)Rabbits living in crowded space.
Picture: Liz Price
Saturday, December 13, 2008
IN my capacity as a freelance writer, I was asked to attend a workshop relating to Responsible Tourism. If I'd known how depressing the class would be, I might have not attended. However I did learn a lot from that day.
The programme was called Zoo Check and we were shown lots of sad and sickening photos of animals kept in bad conditions in zoos and parks across Asia. It was pitiful to see some of the ways these animals had to lead their lives.
Zoo Check is a campaign by ACRES, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society. ACRES is a charity registered in 2001 in Singapore by Louis Ng. they are devoted to the welfare of animals.
Their aim is to improve the living conditions and welfare of animals in captivity, and foster respect and compassion for all animals, especially by educating people.
One of ACRES priorities is to oversee the zoos in Asia. They inspect the conditions the animals are kept in, checking the size and state of the cages and enclosures. If the animals have any injuries or wounds, these are noted.
Some zoo inmates are housed in cages which are bare and have no features or furnishings. Some animals need trees to climb, monkeys and apes need trees to swing in, and maybe nest in.
They need shelter from the hot sun and rain, and they also need somewhere for privacy where they can get away from visitors.
Soft substrate is important for many animals, especially those that want to dig or burrow or make a soft bed. Other animals naturally nest above ground level so it is wrong to give them sleeping boxes on the ground. A constant supply to fresh drinking water is a must and the enclosures must be kept clean.
Animals may be stressed by being kept in the wrong conditions, or may simply be suffering from acute boredom from a life in captivity with nothing to do.
Many zoo animals are fed at the same time each day, which adds to the boredom. Some may be underfed, others may be obese.
It is becoming popular now in some places to give animals food treats which they have to work at to get, for example pieces of fruit may be frozen in large blocks of ice and the animal has to wait for the ice to melt to get the treat.
Another good method is to put treats in artificial logs with small access holes, so animals such as apes have to use a stick to extract the food.
The animals are watched to see if they display any abnormal behaviour such as constant pacing, head swaying, or pulling out the fur. I'm sure most people who have visited zoos in Asia have seen some of these telltale signs of behavioural problems.
Animal shows are a rapidly growing industry, and Louis and his team monitor these shows to see if the creatures are badly treated or starved in order to make them perform.
The same applies to animals that are photographed with the human visitors; some are cruelly treated in order to make them submissive for the photo shoots.
The four main animals that ACRES assess at zoos and parks are bears, apes, big cats and elephants. The bear parks in Japan have long been a problem keeping far too many creatures in appalling conditions in concrete pits, where they are starved so that they beg for food from visitors. They are even encouraged to fight as humans find this funny.
In many countries bears and indeed many animals, are kept in concrete pits, and the visitor looks down on these animals. They have no natural settings such as trees to climb or soft material for bedding, and often no access to clean water.
One high concern for ACRES is the fact that polar bears are kept in the Tropics. These animals naturally live in the subzero temperatures of the Arctic and have enormous expanses of land over which to roam.
Sadly zoos neglect this fact and place polar bears in tiny enclosures where the pond is often larger than the amount of dry land. This is the opposite of the natural environment.
And polar bears have thick fur and layers of blubber so they cannot really adapt to the tropical heat and sun.
ACRES has a campaign aptly called "What's a polar bear doing in the tropics".
There is an increasingagreement amongst animal specialists worldwide that elephants should not be kept in zoos. Elephants are social creatures and live in large herds which migrate over large distances, and no zoos can offer these facilities.
The worst scenarios are the establishments that keep one solitary female elephant, as this is so stressful for the creature. More and more parks are agreeing that elephants should not be kept in such conditions.
Another concern is the rise in the number of dolphinariums worldwide. These intelligent mammals are made to perform tricks to entertain the visitors, and many are taken from the wild to supply these shows.
Although the animal's facial structures make them appear to be smiling, few of these creatures are probably happy, as some are known to be starved in order to perform tricks to gain a fish as reward.
ACRES also cares about domestic animals, as well as the illegal trade in wildlife. This is a constant problem as animals are traded for the pet or food markets.
They also run a wildlife rescue centre to house rescued animals, either from the wild or the pet trade, and those suitable will be reintroduced into the wild. ACRES is certainly doing a wonderful job in the ever ongoing battle to help nature's creatures, but they need the help of the public everywhere.
Any cases of cruelty or neglect need to be reported, and preferably documented by ways of photos or videos.
And of course education is so important, to teach people as well as the big establishments about the better care needed for all animals that are held captive by man.
More information can be seen on their website, http://www.acres.org.sg/
The Brunei Times
The programme was called Zoo Check and we were shown lots of sad and sickening photos of animals kept in bad conditions in zoos and parks across Asia. It was pitiful to see some of the ways these animals had to lead their lives.
Zoo Check is a campaign by ACRES, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society. ACRES is a charity registered in 2001 in Singapore by Louis Ng. they are devoted to the welfare of animals.
Their aim is to improve the living conditions and welfare of animals in captivity, and foster respect and compassion for all animals, especially by educating people.
One of ACRES priorities is to oversee the zoos in Asia. They inspect the conditions the animals are kept in, checking the size and state of the cages and enclosures. If the animals have any injuries or wounds, these are noted.
Some zoo inmates are housed in cages which are bare and have no features or furnishings. Some animals need trees to climb, monkeys and apes need trees to swing in, and maybe nest in.
They need shelter from the hot sun and rain, and they also need somewhere for privacy where they can get away from visitors.
Soft substrate is important for many animals, especially those that want to dig or burrow or make a soft bed. Other animals naturally nest above ground level so it is wrong to give them sleeping boxes on the ground. A constant supply to fresh drinking water is a must and the enclosures must be kept clean.
Animals may be stressed by being kept in the wrong conditions, or may simply be suffering from acute boredom from a life in captivity with nothing to do.
Many zoo animals are fed at the same time each day, which adds to the boredom. Some may be underfed, others may be obese.
It is becoming popular now in some places to give animals food treats which they have to work at to get, for example pieces of fruit may be frozen in large blocks of ice and the animal has to wait for the ice to melt to get the treat.
Another good method is to put treats in artificial logs with small access holes, so animals such as apes have to use a stick to extract the food.
The animals are watched to see if they display any abnormal behaviour such as constant pacing, head swaying, or pulling out the fur. I'm sure most people who have visited zoos in Asia have seen some of these telltale signs of behavioural problems.
Animal shows are a rapidly growing industry, and Louis and his team monitor these shows to see if the creatures are badly treated or starved in order to make them perform.
The same applies to animals that are photographed with the human visitors; some are cruelly treated in order to make them submissive for the photo shoots.
The four main animals that ACRES assess at zoos and parks are bears, apes, big cats and elephants. The bear parks in Japan have long been a problem keeping far too many creatures in appalling conditions in concrete pits, where they are starved so that they beg for food from visitors. They are even encouraged to fight as humans find this funny.
In many countries bears and indeed many animals, are kept in concrete pits, and the visitor looks down on these animals. They have no natural settings such as trees to climb or soft material for bedding, and often no access to clean water.
One high concern for ACRES is the fact that polar bears are kept in the Tropics. These animals naturally live in the subzero temperatures of the Arctic and have enormous expanses of land over which to roam.
Sadly zoos neglect this fact and place polar bears in tiny enclosures where the pond is often larger than the amount of dry land. This is the opposite of the natural environment.
And polar bears have thick fur and layers of blubber so they cannot really adapt to the tropical heat and sun.
ACRES has a campaign aptly called "What's a polar bear doing in the tropics".
There is an increasingagreement amongst animal specialists worldwide that elephants should not be kept in zoos. Elephants are social creatures and live in large herds which migrate over large distances, and no zoos can offer these facilities.
The worst scenarios are the establishments that keep one solitary female elephant, as this is so stressful for the creature. More and more parks are agreeing that elephants should not be kept in such conditions.
Another concern is the rise in the number of dolphinariums worldwide. These intelligent mammals are made to perform tricks to entertain the visitors, and many are taken from the wild to supply these shows.
Although the animal's facial structures make them appear to be smiling, few of these creatures are probably happy, as some are known to be starved in order to perform tricks to gain a fish as reward.
ACRES also cares about domestic animals, as well as the illegal trade in wildlife. This is a constant problem as animals are traded for the pet or food markets.
They also run a wildlife rescue centre to house rescued animals, either from the wild or the pet trade, and those suitable will be reintroduced into the wild. ACRES is certainly doing a wonderful job in the ever ongoing battle to help nature's creatures, but they need the help of the public everywhere.
Any cases of cruelty or neglect need to be reported, and preferably documented by ways of photos or videos.
And of course education is so important, to teach people as well as the big establishments about the better care needed for all animals that are held captive by man.
More information can be seen on their website, http://www.acres.org.sg/
The Brunei Times
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http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/life/2008/12/13/organisation_to_improve_living_conditions_of_caged_animals
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/life/2008/12/13/organisation_to_improve_living_conditions_of_caged_animals
The zoo and goverment claim the good name of protection and education. The animals should not be in captivities under any name. Instead, they should protect the enviroment.
ReplyDeleteVery true. And now there is worldwide concern that elephants should not be kept in captivity at all.
ReplyDelete