News release
Sunday 28 august 2005 - for immediate use
Scottish demonstration against captivity of polar bear
Date : Monday 29 August 2005
Time : 10:30am
Place: outside Edinburgh Zoo, Corstorphine road, Edinburgh
Advocates for Animals (Advocates) is organising the Edinburgh National Zoo Awareness Day demonstration, one of many taking place across the UK co-ordinated by the Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS).
Scottish campaigners from Advocates will protest outside Edinburgh Zoo on Monday 29 August 2005 at 10:30am to highlight the plight of Mercedes, the last polar bear in captivity in the UK, the protestors wearing polar bear masks and holding colourful placards and banners. One demonstrator will spend the protest in a cage dressed as an imprisoned polar bear. Activists will also collect signatures on a petition to Edinburgh Zoo calling for an end to its proposal to bring more polar bears to the zoo and asking that
Mercedes' enclosure be improved as a matter of urgency.
24-year old Mercedes is the last polar bear in captivity in the UK and has been kept in a small, barren enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo for the last 21 years of her life. Her partner, Barney, died of suffocation on a plastic toy thrown in by visitors. For the past few years, she has displayed signs of distress and abnormal behaviour such as repetitive pacing and swimming. She could live for another 15 years with little more to relieve her boredom and the stress that undoubtedly accompanies her miserable existence.
Advocates' Campaigns Manager, Lynda Korimboccus, said: "Zoos should be relegated to the last century - they are no place for animals. Polar bears are especially vulnerable, capable of suffering terrible stress with zoo confinement limiting them to around only one millionth of the space of their natural range. We are appalled that Edinburgh Zoo is proposing to break its promise not to replace Mercedes when she dies. How sad it would be to see yet more of these magnificent animals condemned to life behind bars - fortunately, many of the public are in agreement - we have been inundated with thousands of petition signatories already showing just how disgusted they are with the Zoo's proposal."
Craig Redmond, Campaigns Officer for CAPS, added: "The concept of zoos are increasingly being questioned by the public who are now more aware of animal rights and animal behaviour than ever before. The myths perpetuated by the zoo industry, that they are essential for conservation and education, have been proven false, and now is the time for society to move away from the incarceration of animals for entertainment. Zoo Awareness Day helps generate public discussion about the role of zoos and explains why the captivity industry should be ended."
Notes:
- For interviews or photographs of Mercedes, please contact Lynda Korimboccus, Campaigns Manager at Advocates for Animals: 0131- 225 6039 or 07984 006884·
- For more information on National Zoo Awareness Day, contact Craig Redmond,
Campaigns Officer at CAPS: 0845 330 3911 or 07939 264864
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