Zoos starve birds of prey to make them perform circus-style tricks, investigation finds

Food is withheld from falcons, hawks and eagles, and many are also deprived of clean drinking water, a report says

Jane Dalton @JournoJane

Saturday 29 June 2019 13:45 

The Independent

Birds of prey are effectively starved to force them to obey human commands at zoos across the UK, investigators have found.

To train them to perform tricks for entertainment, food is withheld from the birds, such as falcons, hawks and eagles, which are naturally frightened of people, until their hunger outweighs their fear, a report says.

It’s claimed the tactic – together with forcing them to perform in displays – makes such zoos “a circus by any other name”.

The government is in the process of banning wild animals in circuses, with a bill currently going through parliament.

Freedom for Animals, a charity that opposes animal captivity, says avian veterinary experts believe going without food for three days may cause dehydration and kidney disease.

Depriving wild birds of food, known as “manning”, can take several days.

The group investigated 25 zoos around the UK, filming in 24 of them, finding one in three enclosures did not have clean drinking water.

Birds of prey spent an average of just 11 minutes 18 seconds flying during a public display, the investigation found.

At one zoo, a staff member told visitors how “naturally wild birds are terrified of humans” so to get one to sit on his glove, food is withheld and “then it is a matter of waiting until appetite outweighs fear”.

This “appears to be an extreme approach to training, especially when keepers have a legal obligation to provide food for animals ... we see this carried out widely across UK zoos,” the charity said.

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Zoos and Bird Conservation

How Zoos Help Protect Birds

It may seem contrary to consider captive birds helpful wild bird conservation, but in fact zoos, aviaries and other captive facilities can be very beneficial both to exotic wild birds as well as local wild bird populations. Birders who understand what zoos do to help local and worldwide avifauna can then opt to support zoos and help promote bird conservation.

About Zoos

Zoos, also called zoological parks, bioparks or menageries, are controlled habitats where animals are held captive and displayed. The oldest zoo was believed to be an exotic menagerie exhibit in Egypt that operated in approximately 3500 BC, and other ancient zoos have been documented in China, Greece and Europe. Many older zoos were often criticized for gross violations of animal rights, including inappropriate and too small enclosures, poor care and cruel treatment of the animals. Modern zoos, however, pride themselves on providing accurate representations of animals’ habitats and caring for their animals in humane and ethical ways.

Today, there are more than 1,000 zoos around the world, and while their size, quality and dedication to conservation can vary, many of them are important facilities for preserving wildlife diversity, including birds. In addition to zoos, bird conservation is also a part of many aviaries, marine life parks, botanical gardens and similar facilities.

How Zoos Help Wild Bird Conservation

Just keeping birds captive and displaying them for the public does not provide a great deal of benefit to bird conservation, but zoos do much more than that. Different ways zoos protect and preserve birds include…

Continued:  http://birding.about.com/od/birdconservation/a/Zoos-And-Bird-Conservation.htm