Zoos worldwide, via mass media, are framing their current financial crisis as a last ditch fight for survival that could end with animals either starving or requiring euthanasia.
MERRITT CLIFTON: Seven thousand animals at Ocean Park in Hong Kong and as many as 20,000 animals at the London Zoo and subsidiary Whipsnade Zoo are only the most politically conspicuous of thousands of menageries now at risk –– and perhaps being held for ransom from the public till –– as result of forced closures due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic… The zoo management narrative is that COVID-19 has hit the entire zoo industry, worldwide, much as warfare from time to time has hit individual zoos…
But is the COVID-19 crisis really analogous to the effects of warfare, perhaps even a world war? Are the urgent appeals of zoo management for government bailouts really about saving starving animals, or are they more about seizing a perceived opportunity to obtain capital for reinvestment in facilities that are expected to rake in record-breaking profits, once the crisis is over and crowds return to the gates, souvenir shops, and concession stands?…
The London Zoo, for example, opened in 1828, “says it could be forced to close permanently because the coronavirus crisis is costing it around £2.3million every month,” reported Daily Mail correspondent Colin Fernandez on May 6, 2020. The Guardian, the Daily Mail, BBC News, and other major British media soon prominently amplified the message, mentioning that even the Nazi blitzkrieg of World War II had closed the London Zoo for only two weeks, whereas COVID-19 has kept the zoo closed since March 21, 2020. “The zoo has already furloughed 280 staff,” wrote Fernandez, “but needs a cash injection of £25 million ($31 million U.S.) to stay afloat as it faces the worst crisis in its history”…
As of May 11, 2020, ANIMALS 24-7 has yet to find verified reports of mass starvations, euthanasias, or slaughters of some animals to feed others at any zoo –– though such could yet occur ––that could accurately be attributed to the closures due to COVID-19. But zoo management worldwide, via mass media, are increasingly framing their current cash flow crisis as a last ditch fight for survival that could end with animals either starving or requiring euthanasia, should the zoos run out of money due to lack of paid admissions. SOURCE…
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