Give animals some space

IT is sickening to see the conditions the animals, particularly the large ones, at the Lai Chi Kok Zoo have to live in.

A zoo plays an important role in the education process, making the public more aware of the richness and variety of life on this planet, and consequently (one hopes), is more careful in its management of the environment.

Large cats such as jaguars are housed in ridiculously small steel cages with concrete floors and no plant life inside the cages (although the concrete is painted green - perhaps to make the animals believe it's grass?).

Nor is there any straw strewn about to provide some degree of warmth or comfort. Similarly, the gibbons have the same green concrete floor and black steel cages and little else, although their cages do have ropes for them to climb, as a poor substitute for trees.

To the credit of the zoo management the animals do appear to be well looked after. It is even more unfortunate then, that this standard cannot be reflected in their living conditions, which are far below the standards of world class zoos.

The public benefits from being able to view the animals in a more natural environment, and the animals benefit from living in such an environment.