So we went to all 4 zoos in Sri Lanka and compiled this short documentary.
We're not big fans of zoos but wanted to give our daughter the experience.
Sri Lanka mainly has 4 big zoos. All run by the government. There are few small scale private establishments as well.
Dehiwala zoo 01:20 is the oldest, running back to colonial times. It was started in 1920s by the world famous Carl Hagenbeck family. Apparently, Asian, African and dark-skinned humans also considered zoo exhibits at the time and there are records of Dehiwala zoo been involved in it too.
Check out humanzoos.net/..., there are some crazy historic photos on it.
Also: www.thearchive...
Other than few exceptions, conditions for animals are terrible at the Dehiwala zoo and we found many local and international media reports concerned about the welfare of these animals.
These are a few of them:
Dehiwala ZOO Cruelty to Animals through Exhibition: www.dailymirror...
Dehiwala Zoo: Waning glamour, caged to suffer: www.dailynews.l...
NO MORE CAGES: DEHIWALA ZOO EXPOSED: • NO MORE CAGES: DEHIWAL...
UPDATE: There was a great news that the government is considering to move Dehiwala zoo to Piliyandala. The minister was citing animal cruelty and outdated practices. www.dailymirror...
Secondly, we went to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage 05:38. It was started as a sanctuary for baby elephants and its collection grew due to the civil war & ongoing human-elephant conflicts. Currently it has about 93 elephants and it's the largest heard of captive elephants in the world.
Though not as controversial as the Dehiwala zoo, the elephant orphanage also have some negative media reports about the welfare of these elephants. They are mostly chained, isolated & treated as tourism exhibits.
Cabinet paper now pushes Jumbos from pillar to post: www.dailymirror...
Here’s Why You Should Never Visit Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage In Sri Lanka: handluggageonl...
On the other hand, Sri Lanka has a never-ending human-elephant conflict. From 2018 - 2019 Oct alone, 189 humans were killed and 612 elephants were killed.
Thirdly, we went to the Pinnawala Open Zoo 07:10. Opened in 2015, this modern open concept zoo is a great initiative and thousand times better than Dehiwala zoo for both animals and visitors. Other than the predators, all other animals are in open enclosures with electrical fences. We really enjoyed our time and it's a great place to hang around.
Finally, we went to see the Ridiyagama Safari Park 08:09. In our opinion, this is the best zoo experience out of these 4. It's a great progressive initiative and a sign that things are going in the right direction. Here, the humans visit the park in cages and the animals roam free. The place is huge, in-fact, it's 20 times bigger than the Dehiwala zoo. Some parts are still under construction.
Other sources we referred:
• Video
nationalzoo.gov.lk
en.wikipedia.o...
www.peta.org/b...
en.wikipedia.o...
• The Reason These Eleph...
Hope this helped.
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31 авг 2020
