As reported by Martin Davids, a handler of chimpanzees of La Plata  Zoo, in Argentina, in an interview given to GAP channel on youtube days ago in Sorocaba Sanctuary (you can check the videos here, in Spanish version), the chimps who were outside the enclosure refused to go back indoor for three hot days, condemning the group that was in the dorm to endure 72 hours in temperatures above 32 ºC. The rebellion of those who were out and share the outdoor area – for lack of choice – not to go into the oven which was the dorm,  even getting short of food (an argument for them to enter), proves that the zoos care little for the well-being of animals staying there and the only thing that matters is to be the center of entertainment for humans.

Most people who visit zoos do not know it. The animals are collected when it finishes the “day shift” to their cubicles or internal dormitories, where they spend 2/3 of the time from 24 hours of their existence. What you see is an outdoor animal, which can move in narrow territory, but it has a certain freedom. However, it does not happen this way when the public is not present.

The animals in zoos also have altered biology – in the vast majority. In nature, animals eat during the day and sleep at night. On zoos, they usually eat once a day, before bed, and return only to eat the next day at night. It is a necessity in order to force them to go into the oven that is their dorm. And in the current summer, where global warming is intensifying, chimpanzees of La Plata Zoo one day decided not to enter.

Why this policy? One day I asked a director of a Zoo here and other abroad and both gave me the same answer: security. There is a danger of someone help them to escape, or they, alone, without supervision and supported during the night, try to do it on their own. Or worse: that disturbed human commit suicide by throwing themselves in some dangerous animal enclosure.

This further indicates the need to detach visitors of the zoos. Even the employees themselves would appreciate it, as they must be tired of putting up with so many inconvenience people, who end up ceasing the lives of animals and the employees themselves. A zoo without human visitation would be ideal for the treatment of rescued animals, who need peace, tranquility, love and compassion, that human visitors can never give.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, International Project GAP