A zoo once dubbed the ‘worst in the world’ by a visitor is now set to close after complaints that the animals in residence were looking too depressed.
The Split Science Museum and Zoo in Croatia’s second largest city, Split, will relocate its animals to different zoos across the country.
The announcement came after numerous complaints that the animals were living in squalid conditions, such as small and dirty cages, making them visibly depressed.
The closure was announced by Split’s deputy mayor, Goran Kovacevic, who said: ‘We have told the zoo manager to start preparations and draft a programme to relocate all animals.’
The monkeys will be sent to Germany, but the zoos managers are still looking for a housing solution for the zoo’s 14-year-old tiger.
The establishment, open since 1924, previously housed 450 animals across 55 species.
‘There is a small range of animals including bears, wolves, donkeys and monkeys.
‘Some of the cages are ridiculously small and animals do not look happy at all.
The most shocking cage was for the biggest animals in the zoo – bears.
‘The tiger’s cage was also really small, but no tiger was present, maybe he was inside what looked like a nightmarish doghouse with tiny windows.
‘You don’t get even close to a feeling of visiting nature, instead it looks like a tiny and filthy prison.
Because of the terrible conditions, the zoo has suffered a bad reputation for animal mistreatment for years.
Many campaigns have been started against it, including that of local animal rights activists under the Marjan civic group, who have been trying for years to have the zoo closed.
‘Until recently there were five wolves in a cage and they had so little room that they constantly attacked one another.’
The city in the southern Adriatic attracts hundreds of tourists from all over the year, especially in the summer.
Its popularity comes from both its Roman-era heritage and proximity to the popular Croatian islands surrounding it.