Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Rico Shen/WikiCommons/CC BY-SA 3.0
ANIMAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES have called attention to violations at the Leofoo Village Theme Park, following a Control Yuan investigation.
There has been increased focus on animal rights violations at the Leofoo Village Theme Park after an escaped baboon was killed in March. This took place after a multi-day saga in which the baboon was photographed wandering Taoyuan, resulting in the animal becoming a viral hit online before its sudden death from gunshot wounds shortly after capture. Likewise, in past years, the zoo has also been criticized over the deaths of eight giraffes in the park over ten years.
The Leofoo Village Theme Park initially denied that the baboon came from the zoo, then later admitted that it did. As such, the zoo has come under scrutiny as to whether it keeps track of the more than 1,000 animals at the theme park, which includes 70 different species.
Likewise, the zoo was criticized for the circumstances in which the baboon died. The animal died after apparently being shot, but the zoo was criticized for attempting to pin the blame on an Indigenous hunter that volunteered to assist in tracking the animal. The zoo management claimed that it did not order the hunter to fire, but only brought one tranquilizer gun with them, and declined to comment on whether it carried any guns during the capture.
According to the Northern Taiwan Indigenous Hunter Association, Indigenous hunters are often called upon by the government to assist with animal captures, and the hunter in question was unlikely to fire unless ordered to. The hunter in question stated that he was ordered to fire by the zoo management after they ran out of tranquilizer darts.
Photo credit: giustina ilyusha/WikiCommons/CC BY-SA 2.0
The Leofoo Village Theme Park was temporarily closed at the end of March to conduct an inventory of the animals. The Forestry Bureau ordered the zoo to improve measures to prevent animals from escaping in one month’s time, while also requiring that the zoo chip all baboons within six months.
Taiwan Animal Equity Association and Animal Skies held a press conference earlier this month. This took place in the same timeframe as a delegation from the Control Yuan visited the Leofoo Village Theme Park to conduct an inspection alongside staff from the Council of Agriculture, Taipei Zoo, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu governments.
The groups called on the Control Yuan to take action over persistent issues at the group. Many issues stem from animals not having sufficiently large enclosures, an issue affecting rhinos, lions, tigers, and giraffes at the theme park. The safari area of the zoo was criticized as being too small, causing animals to be in close proximity to one another in a manner that could lead to animals injuring or killing each other and even cannibalism. Moreover, bird habits for waterfowl do not contain water.
That is, animals live in conditions in which they are easily disturbed by tourists, can become infected by parasites, or otherwise become isolated. This was pointed to as a cause for the baboon escape, in that baboons at the zoo do not have sufficient space for climbing. Furthermore, there prove issues with identifying and isolating animals that are injured or weak for treatment. The animal rights groups, then, called for the publicization of the investigation into the zoo, seeing as the Control Yuan conducted its investigation in a low-key manner, with closed-door meetings, and no publicly announced itinerary.
Such issues have been raised in past years with other zoos and farms in Taiwan, such as the Xpark in Taoyuan or the Cingjing Farm in Nantou. To this extent, it is not as though the issue of frequent animal escapes applies only to the Leofoo Village Theme Park. Animal escapes from the Taipei Zoo, likely the most high-profile zoo in Taiwan, have been a recurring theme in past years. Animal escapes there include capybaras, clouded leopard cats, chimpanzees, anteaters, and even an incident in which a tiger temporarily left its enclosure.
However, the issue is only honed in on after incidents such as the baboon shooting death. One also expects public discussion to primarily focus on the issues of the Leofoo Village Theme Park rather than discussion of the structural issues facing exhibiting animals in zoos, farms, or ranches.