NGO CAPS, in a memorable investigative work, turned known for the public the transactions between Great British Circus and the zoo, putting one of its members as a covered spy inside the zoo.

The agreement allowed that in June 2009 two Bengal tigers of the circus, Kushkja and Tira, to be transferred to the zoo. Their arrival was celebrated with a lot of marketing, but their origin from the circus had been hidden. A little later male Tanvir arrived. According to the secret agreement, the baby tigers that were born in the zoo would be property of the circus. Tira arrived already pregnant and at the end of July she gave birth to four offsprings; three were born dead and one was taken off her. Tumkur was fed artificially by the keepers.

Tira died six weeks later and Tumkur survived only for 12 days. With no tests, Tira’s cause of death was defined as Feline Infectious Peritonitis. The head of the female tiger and the paws had been cut, which was demanded by the circus, which wished to keep them as “souvenirs”. The skin was also pulled out and was kept in the zoo. All the information about the birth and death were taken out of the website, just like the video camera that monitored the offspring during the 12 days he survived.

During the investigations, CAPs secret spy spoke to a veterinarian, Caterine Tisdall, who was working with bureaucracy stuff. She recognized that strange things were happening and they sould not give attention to them. The bodies of the female tiger and their offspings should have been sent to incineration. But, in order to avoid explanations about their origin and about their death, the rests of their corpses were buried somewhere in the zoo, with no kind of identification.

Continuing the agreement with the circus, in August the zoo received a new male Tiger, called Kan, to mate with Kushkja and produce offsprings to be sent to the circus.

CAPS made videos and registered conversations between employees of the zoo involved in that scandal. This shows the background of zoos in Great Britain and other countries. In these institutions the animals are simply objects to human profit and entertainment.

Dr. Pedro A Ynterian
President, GAP Project International