Conservation
Dedication shows itself among Romania's captive wildlife
By: Jennifer Loftis
The animals at Buhusi Zoo, a small zoo near Bacau, in northeastern Romania, have suffered from sickness and malnourishment, and many of the facilities are small and dirty.
Posted: 22/08/2007
The zoo's condition is one of the worst in Romania
The funds for the medicines and vaccines often come from their own pockets, or from large animal protection organizations around the world such as the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), Animal Welfare Institute and Born Free. Many of their weekends have been spent at the Buhusi zoo. Minciu and Lesovici say this particular zoo's condition is among the worst in Romania. Alongside them, Laura Simms, an American speaker and writer, has been working to help the animals also. She started a campaign, The Lion's Roar, to raise money and volunteer workers for the Buhusi Zoo. Simms and the community put in months of work on the zoo, but it did not pass the necessary regulations when Romania joined the European Union.
Visitors at the zoo
Therefore, despite their effort, the zoo will still be shut down. While Minciu and Lesovici, along with Simms and the Lion's Roar project, were unable to keep Buhusi Zoo open after Romania joined the EU, their long hours of work are not over yet, as they continue to fight for better conditions for all of Romania's captive wildlife.
Right now, APAR and The Lion's Roar are working together to convince the owner of the Buhusi Zoo to send the animals to suitable sanctuaries. Most likely, three of the healthiest lions will go to a sanctuary in South Africa. The other three, who were so malnourished that their back legs are permanently too short, will probably be put to sleep.
"It's a shame, but the trip to South Africa would be too painful for them. Putting them to sleep seems to be the most humane thing to do," Minciu said.
All the bears will go to a sanctuary near Brasov that is being built by WSPA. This bear sanctuary will be finished this summer and will be the largest in Europe. The WSPA is building the sanctuary with the intent of housing bears that were owned by private owners and then confiscated because of the lack of care. However, after the WSPA reviewed an assessment of the bears' conditions at Buhusi zoo, written by Minciu and Lesovici, they have decided to make an exception and are allowing the bears to be brought to the sanctuary this summer.
One of the birds kept at the zoo
"We are against this, because the dog shelters in Romania are already overcrowded and the conditions are not very good. A better solution is to put the dingos in a dog shelter in some other country where more space is available. However, the government's environmental agency would like for all the zoo animals to stay in Romania," said Minciu.
Minciu, Lesovici and Simms are all working with the government and with the owner of the Buhusi zoo to find the best solutions for the animals.
There are more than 25 zoos in Romania. Minciu and Lesovici say that the Bucharest Zoo is in the top three as far as good conditions and healthy animals. However, they said there is a large gap, with the top three best-kept zoos in Romania being in Targu Mures, Bucharest and Targoviste.
"All the other zoos are much lower in standards. There are the top zoos and then all the rest of the zoos at the bottom. There is not really an in-between level as far as conditions go," said Lesovici.
Most Romanian zoos are owned by municipalities, which Minciu and Lesovici say often means that the zoos' conditions are overlooked and under-funded. Also, the zoos that are in smaller or poorer towns do not have the funds from the city or from the visitors which they need to properly care for the animals. Minciu and Lesovici say because very few of the zoos in Romania have full-time vets many simply work with the local large animal vet.
Minciu said that this causes problems, however, because the local vet is often busy with his or her customers, so they only make it to the zoo when they have time, and most likely only when an animal is obviously sick. Minciu said, often, these vets have no training in dealing with wildlife animals, so when the town vet needs to tranquilize a lion to clip its claws, give vaccinations, or check its teeth, the vet often has no idea how to do so, or is scared to try. This, Minciu said, is another reason vets tend to come when the animal is sick and must have attention immediately. To keep Romania's zoos at EU standards, there should be a vet at every zoo doing routine checks and minor treatments on each animal.
Having a full-time wildlife vet on staff at each zoo takes funds. Not only must these vets be paid, but they must also have training in dealing with wildlife animals, which could mean offering a new field of study at the veterinary university, or investing the time and money for the vets to do internships at a large zoo in another country.
Minciu said that because veterinarian universities in Romania have no specializations, the students are officially qualified to treat all species of animals. However, without real, hands-on training, many vets treat only companion animals and farm animals. Minciu spends her days taking care of people's pets, but she decided that to get the training she needed, she would need experience at a zoo with a full-time vet. After asking around, she applied for an unpaid internship at the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam. With her letter of intent, her CV and her recommendations, the director of Artis Zoo approved Minciu's request to spend a few months learning from the vets there. She followed the vets around the zoo every day to learn and help with checks, treatments and procedures on the animals. Throughout her time in Amsterdam, she worked about six hours a day, busily going from one animal to the next.
Another inmate
"I took a very close look at the entire life of the zoo, because I wanted to get as much knowledge as possible to use it to help Romanian zoos. I learned what the animals are fed with, how and how often, how the enclosures are cleaned and what special needs the different species have. I also concentrated on the medical part of my internship: vaccinations. I learned which animals needed to be vaccinated, how, which products, vaccination schemes and practical experience. I also learned about blood sampling and tests, anesthesia, cutting claws and teeth and small operations," Minciu said.
Together with The Lion's Roar, APAR hopes to use their experience and expertise to continue to influence the Romanian government and zoo owners about the best ways to care for the country's captive wildlife.
For a regular update as to the Buhusi Zoo's situation, visit this website http://www.thelionsroar.us
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