THE RSPCA has called for a new $5.2 million jaguar enclosure in the Zoological and Botanical Gardens to be scrapped and has joined green groups in suggesting the zoo should be closed.
RSPCA executive director Tom Creighton said the gardens were too small for a zoo and that the RSPCA was especially concerned for the well-being of its larger animals, the jaguars and orangutans.
''It's an unsuitable site,'' Mr Creighton said yesterday. He defended the zoo's ''caring and dedicated'' staff but was convinced the jaguars and orangutans were suffering mental illness because of their small cages.
Earlier, two Hong Kong environmental groups called on the Urban Council to overturn a decision to upgrade the jaguar enclosure and to instead use the money to find the animals new homes.
Green Power and Earthcare also said the zoo's four jaguars and six orangutans were showing clear signs of insanity, or ''zoochosis''.
''When they [the council] have thought it through I think they will find it's not possible to find a reasonable environment for these animals in Hong Kong,'' said Earthcare spokesman Dr John Wedderburn.
Mr Creighton said the new 600-square-metre jaguar enclosure, four times larger than the existing one, would still not be large enough for animals that normally ranged over hundreds of square kilometres in the wild.