The NGO Os Animals Importam filed a public civil action against the night visitation made available by the São Paulo Zoo since the beginning of this month.
The applicant claims that allowing the public to circulate at night prevents the animals from resting. “Visitation during the day already causes, in itself, stress to the animals kept there, even more so at night, a moment that should be destined for the rest and peace of these animals”, says the NGO.
In a demonstration, the MP-SP (Public Ministry of São Paulo) requested that its technical body, the CAEX (Execution Support Center), accompany the night visits to the animals during this week.
Called Animal Night, the visitation takes place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 6:30 pm to 10 pm throughout the month of July. According to the Zoo, the objective of the project is to allow visitors to follow animals at night.
The MP-SP also demanded that the park be immediately summoned in order to prove that “when carrying out the nocturnal visitation of the animals, it was based on adequate and sufficient studies to ensure that such activities would not cause any damage to the fauna”.
To the report, the São Paulo Zoo states that it acts based on evidence and international conservation guidelines. “In this way, we can say that all animal care at the São Paulo Zoo is based on scientific methodology, carried out and monitored by a large and multidisciplinary team specializing in the management and care of wild animals, in addition to educators focused on educational actions aimed at conservation of biodiversity”.
About the action that resulted in the manifestation of the MP-SP, the Zoo says it does not know the “supposed situation”.
Leandro Ferro, president of the NGO, criticized the existence of zoos. “These poor animals are used as tourist and entertainment assets. Science has already proven that animals have sentience and can feel emotions, suffer and bond in even more complex ways than human beings. In zoos, they are more of a collection of art in a living museum,” he said.
It is not the first time that the entity has filed a lawsuit against the São Paulo Zoo. In 2021, the subject of the application was the transfer of the orangutan Samson to a sanctuary. The animal has been isolated in its enclosure, of approximately 30 square meters, for more than three years.
