Coronavirus lockdown has affected lives in a way that most people couldn’t have anticipated – urban wage workers in India are starving as a majority of the rural and tribal population is forced to eat grass due to lack of food.
Help has barely reached them, but human lives are not the only ones adversely affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.
Zoos all over the world are running out of food to feed their animals, especially the meat-eating animals are not able to get fresh meat so now the last chance these zoos have is to feed the animals to each other.
There is no other way.
A German Zoo has declared that they will feed the animals to each other
Neumünster Zoo in Germany has publicly declared that their revenue is down due to not getting any visitors, and they have been surviving purely on donations. But the situation has been turning dire, and soon the zoo will run out of food. And the zoo’s stand on the issue is that they’d rather “euthanize” the animals instead of letting them starve to death.
This German zoo houses more than 700 animals from 100 different species, and their emergency plan is to reduce expenses by “euthanizing” animals – and then feeding them to other animals.
The Zoo said in a statement to the media:
“If — and this is really the worst, worst case of all — if I no longer have any money to buy feed, or if it should happen that my feed supplier is no longer able to supply due to new restrictions, then I would slaughter animals to feed other animals.”
Which animals will they kill first?
They even have a priority list of which animals will be the first to be killed, and which animals will be last. The list was not revealed by the zoo, but it is said that a 12-feet tall polar bear named Vitus will be the last in the list.
Germany has the biggest relief package in the world, none of it for the zoos
The German government has released a fund of €750 billion – biggest relief package in the world – and it is supposed to kickstart the businesses and companies which have stalled during the lockdown. While supporting already loaded companies is what you’d expect from a capitalist government – the zoo will not be getting any fund from that.
“We’re an association and don’t get any city money, and all the state money we’ve applied for so far hasn’t arrived yet.”
Can’t the Zoo just shut down operations to cut costs?
The most pertinent issue here is that other organizations can shut down to cut costs, but when a zoo shuts down then it’s only losing revenue. A zoo always needs money for food, maintenance, and security- no matter the situation.
The zoo houses many endangered species and there is a stark possibility that the zoo will lose all the animals soon if they don’t receive any help.
Should Zoos even exist in today’s age?
This has sparked another debate among the general populace if the zoos should even exist – for that matter. Animals in the wild can take care of themselves, and if it weren’t for the corporations destroying forests for fancy minerals and real estate expansion – there will still be enough space on Earth where animals could live without getting endangered by human activity.
Obviously, humans can live without diamond and gold and exotic animal skins – and if only people were sensible enough to not desire the frivolous extravaganza then perhaps the animal’s natural homes will not be ravished. If animals still had their homes intact, then we wouldn’t have to lock them up in zoos to “protect” them.
Why can’t we have this?
Featured Image Courtesy: Wired