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Some zoos offer experiences where visitors can touch and feed animals, but this is only permitted for zoos that submit prior plans and receive approval. When 22 such interactive zoos were selected and investigated, violations were uncovered at every single location.
Reporter Jang Seon-i has the details.
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A zoo in Gyeonggi Province.
Visitors feed coatis, animals belonging to the raccoon family, through holes cut into the enclosure walls.
The feeding snacks are mostly carrots or hardtack, and with no zookeepers present, they can be given in unlimited amounts.
This easily leads to nutritional imbalances and obesity.
[Lee Hyung-ju / Representative, Animal Welfare Institute Aware: Even if they limit the amount of food sold, it is fundamentally impossible to control or manage the total amount of food a single animal consumes throughout the day because countless visitors pay money to buy and feed the food....]
Animal feeding experiences at zoos were banned in principle following an amendment to the relevant law in 2022.
Only interactive experiences approved through prior plans are exceptionally permitted.
However, zoos that received approval on the condition of limiting food quantities are failing to follow their own plans.
When an animal welfare civic group investigated 22 zoos nationwide, it was revealed that all of them operated interactive programs different from their submitted plans.
A zoo in Incheon stated that touching animals was prohibited when feeding them, yet it was conducting a kinkajou touching experience.
At a zoo revisited recently, unapproved feeding experiences for capybaras and sloths were newly opened.
At a zoo in Daegu, an unapproved seal-touching experience was taking place.
[You just need to stroke it gently. It is very smooth, isn't it? The texture to the touch is also very nice.]
This is a commercial tactic to attract even one more visitor, while local governments maintain that on-site crackdowns are not easy.
[Daegu City Official: Even if a complaint comes in, it is not easy without evidence. They (the civic group) sent us photos. We checked based on that.]
[Park Hae-chul / National Assembly Climate and Labor Committee Member (Democratic Party): Submitting education implementation plans only upon initial approval and effectively leaving them neglected afterward is, I believe, the fundamental cause of problems like the current ones.]
Just as interacting with animals is valuable, teaching children to care for the health and welfare of animals also seems important.
(Video Reported by Kang Dong-chul, Video Edited by Lim Yeojin)
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