The Scottish government's refusal to open Scotland's zoos is harmful to animals and also risks putting the zoos in financial ruin, as the summertime is their busiest time of the year.
The UK government gave zoos in England permission to open their doors again yesterday. However, in Scotland, zoos will not be permitted to be open for another month at least. The Scottish government won't allow zoos to open until at least the 15th of July.
The problem with this is that the Scottish government's position to refuse zoos to open to the public again is that it harms the animals living within the zoos.
It harms the animals within the zoos because summer is the busiest time for these places, which means that they will lose a great deal of their annual revenue. This has led zoos like Edinburgh Zoo to ask the public for donations to help keep the zoo afloat.
Scotland only has a few major zoos. Two of Scotland's major zoos - Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park - have Pleaded with the Scottish government to let the zoos open their doors to the public, otherwise, they will lose significant revenue, which will, in turn, impact the animals there. The zoos are now having to ask for public donations to survive.
The animals and their wellbeing are at risk in both of these zoos due to a decrease in funding from being forced to close because of the lockdown and, no financial support from the government.
While the zoos being forced to close may be seen as a victory for animal rights by some - as one of the goals of animal rights is to stop the use of animals in entertainment - this shouldn't be seen as a victory for animal rights, as a) reduced funding means that there is less money for food to feed animals, b) the animals may end up getting euthanized if they don't have enough funds to feed them or they are forced to close and can't find a new home for the animals, and, c) both the Highland Park and Edinburgh Zoo do work to help endangered species, including Scotland's most endangered animals - the Scottish Wildcat.
If the zoos are forced to close or see a significant drop in their revenue, then it would mean that we would lose the vital work that both places are doing to help Scottish Wildcats. If the zoos are forced to close, then it would take away the vital conservation work that both these places are doing to help Scottish Wildcats. There are only between 30 to 35 individual Scottish Wildcats left in Scotland today and their habitat is under threat from more deforestation, a casualty in keeping the zoos closed could result in harming our most endangered species.
If we take away the places who are also trying to save the Scottish Wildcat from extinction, then we could end up in the Scottish Wildcat becoming extinct in the near future.
Whatever our views are on zoos, closing them down like this isn't helpful to the animals within them. It is harmful to the animals within them and the wildlife they help. Instead of the Scottish government waiting for another month to give permission to zoos to open, it has to help these places now - either through financial aid or letting them open, otherwise, it will harm the animals every day that these forced closures happen.
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