It was a pleasure to meet Christoph Kiessling the Vice President of the Loro Parque Group in Tenerife recently.
We stayed at the group’s Hotel Botanico & the Oriental Spa Garden and had the opportunity to tour Siam Park the water wonderland in the south of the island.
We had an unforgettable experience on this beautiful island and brought many special memories back home with us.
Christophe gave us an overview about his work and the efforts that organisations like Loro Parque, try to protect the nature and how, despite of the pressing need of this work, the reputation of modern zoos is permanently attacked from animal right organisations.
The paradox is that in our eyes they should both have the same goal. Namely to protect and preserve the animals and their habitats from the sixth mass extinction.
In an ideal world the natural habitats from each specie would remain undamaged.
But in our real world, where the disproportionate growth of the human population devastate the land and the seas, there are too many critically damaged species and too little opportunities to save them from the extinction.
The modern zoos, as animal embassies, are key players in the battle against biodiversity loss.
Zoos like Loro Parque have the opportunity to present each animal as an ambassador for its species, raising awareness and funds to protect the critically endangered ones on its wild range. But this efforts can only be conceived if the welfare of each single animal under our care is absolutely guaranteed. In this sense, the zoological gardens and aquariums are the real experts in animal welfare.
At Lora Parque they seem to be working closely with researchers from international universities to be in the cutting edge of the animal welfare and that can only be a good thing.
We are not sure about animals being kept in captivity but conceded there is a place and a time for everything. Christoph’s message that his team are working hard to save species fro extinction in the world is a message worth repeating which is why we have taken the time to post this message here