There is has been an uproar on social media in the last week over photos and claims of terrible living conditions and miserable animals at the Mitchell Park Zoo in Durban, KZN. The SPCA and DA councillor delegation visited the zoo to confirm the allegations and made recommendations on how the staff at the zoo could improve their husbandry practices.

While a step in the right direction was taken when the plight of the animals was first highlighted, this is where events took a wrong turn.

The majority of people reacting to this issue can agree that the living conditions and quality of lives of the animals at Mitchell Park Zoo are far from ideal. Animals should not be living in filthy conditions, without easy access to fresh, clean water, nor in solitary confinement. After the complaints were made and the SPCA and DA councillors had been to the zoo, we saw a marked difference over the days that followed in the zoo staff cleaning enclosures, filling water and food bowls and putting a bit of effort into the zoo maintenance in general. The question remains, if this basic housekeeping was not being conducted (for who knows how long), and was only enforced after a major public outcry, how long before the things go back to the way they were before? How long before the spotlight is focused on another issue and the animals at the zoo are again subjected to inadequate care and poor living conditions?

A temporary measure to clean the park is not good enough. A slap on the wrist is not adequate punishment for subjecting the captives at the zoo to the conditions they have been forced to live in. A clean, well kept zoo is may be aesthetically pleasing for the humans who visit but does little to improve the quality of life of the animals imprisoned in it. No matter how meticulously the sand is raked or how often the grass is cut, the animals that spend every day of their lives in cages in the Mitchell Park Zoo deserve better.

Just a few days ago, the mayor of a city in Spain declared that animals in zoos are prisoners, and that they cannot be in captivity in the 21st century. More and more countries around the world are supporting the notion that zoos are prehistoric, abusive and hold no place in modern day society. Animals belong in their natural habitats, within their natural societies, exhibiting their natural behaviours. None of those can be seen in a zoo, and animals in zoos suffer tremendous psychological trauma.

Some may argue that the Mitchell Park Zoo should be preserved because it has been in existence for so long. The same argument applied to many so-called norms of society that had existed for a long time yet were still morally and ethically unacceptable; slavery, racial segregation, sexism to name a few. Animals should not be imprisoned for human exploitation.

Team BAT is calling for the animals in the Mitchell Park Zoo to be transferred to sanctuaries that are better suited to their needs, and for the zoo to be transformed into an animal-free space for people to enjoy, without inflicting cruelty on innocent animals.