By Martin Banks - 25th May 2011
This clearly gives cause for real concern
Daniel Turner
A new report "names and shames" member states and zoos with the worst record for animal welfare.
The report, published in parliament on Wednesday, says that the authorities in Estonia have still not introduced an EU law on zoos dating back to 1999.
The tiny Baltic state has, says the report, "totally" failed to transpose into national law the EU directive on zoos that should have been enforced in 2002.
Estonia is singled out for criticism in the report, presented at a news conference.
The report also names the Caunas zoo in Lithuania for particular criticism as well, expressing concern about the conditions in which its animals are held.
Daniel Turner, of the Born Free Foundation, the report's co-authors, cited as an example the conditions for polar bears at the zoo, the second biggest in the country.
"We found them confined to concrete platforms with no access to water and with little comfort," said Turner.
"They were developing abnormal behaviour which is a clear sign of the poor conditions in which many wild animals are being kept at this and other zoos."
The report says that under the directive, all member states were required to adopt a series of measures that obliged zoos to conserve biodiversity, educate the public and maintain animals in conditions that meet their species-specific needs.
But in many cases, it concludes, the directive has not met its objectives.
The latest "batch" of reports on member states includes Estonia, France, Austria, Lithuania and Latvia.
Turner said that in many cases there were problems in the way the directive had been transposed into national law.
He said, "We found a lack of understanding of the directive and what it means for both member states and zoos themselves.
"One consistent concern we are finding is that zoos are failing to provide animals with their basic spatial, physical and psychological needs.
"This clearly gives cause for real concern."
