by Alanna Ketler
Costa Rica is such a
beautiful, forward thinking country, always seemingly one step ahead of
the rest of the world when it comes to their sustainability and
conservation practices. It comes as no surprise, then, that Costa Rica
recently became the first country to implement a plan to shut down all
of its zoos and free all its captive animals.
This tropical nation is one of the most
bio-diverse locations on the planet, which could be a result of the
respect the people there have for the animals and the land. The decision
to close down the zoos and ban all animal captivity goes even further
to show how much the Costa Rican government and citizens really care for
their country; this goes beyond patriotism.
Something In The Way?
The government had plans to reinvent the
two pre-existing zoos in Costa Rica. The Simón Bolívar Zoo Conservation
Center will be turned into a botanical garden and educational center
and the Conservation Center of Santa Ana was supposed to become a
51-hectare forest reserve. However, the government was just a little bit
late on these plans – by the time these announcements were made,
Fundazoo, the company that has overseen the zoos in Costa Rica for
nineteen years, had filed a court appeal to get its contract renewed for
another decade.
Unfortunately, because of these
previous contractual obligations, it is looking as though the country
will have to keep the doors of its two zoos open until at least the year
2024. But the government has already filed an appeal and is planning to
pass new regulations regarding animal captivity in state-owned
institutions.
“We are getting rid of the cages and
reinforcing the idea of interacting with biodiversity in botanical parks
in a natural way,” Environment Minister René Castro said at a press
conference in July 2013 when the government made public their decision
to shut down the zoos. “We don’t want animals in captivity or enclosed
in any way unless it is to rescue or save them.”
How amazing is that?
Costa Rica continues to set an amazing
example to the rest of the planet and shows us how we can live in
harmony with all beings without having to exploit or endanger any of
them. The biodiversity of Costa Rica continues to thrive, as 4% of the
Earth’s species exist in Costa Rica and over 25% of the land there has
been set aside for protection to provide a habitat for its approximate
500,000 species.
Much Love
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