Since 1990, the Zoo has lost 31 species of mammals and 72 types of birds
<p>This occurred despite the contract stating that the concessionaire had specified the need to protect and increase the population. Work by the Audit of the City of Buenos Aires notes that the conditions in which live animals are not the most appropriate and that the company does not have a management plan to fight the extinction of wildlife.</p> <p> </p>
A report by the Auditor General of the City of Buenos Aires (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish) ensures that the conditions in which animals live in the Buenos Aires Zoo are not the most appropriate. It adds that the concessionaire of the land does not have "a management plan" that takes into account the fight against "the extinction of fauna."
Although prior to the 1990 contract, the licensee proposed that the zoo adopted a "criteria that favors the similarity of the natural habitat of each animal," and provides the necessary "living space," the report says that "some animals are housed in confined spaces "and there is" low birth rate," reflecting that "the conditions are not the most acceptable.”
Even the AGCBA detailed the case of the polar bear and said they are not given "adequate temperature conditions." The Watchdog also stressed that "the Zoo breached its proposal to equip the enclosure with air-conditioning units."
Comparison between the 1990 inventory of animals and the second half of 2007, shows that "the collection of the zoo lost 31 species of mammals (23%) and 72 species of birds (55%)." It is clear that, in its proposal, the company mentioned that the zoo had 1,400 specimens of 200 species, and claimed it was "necessary to increase the collection to a total of 440 species composed of 2,800 copies in five years."
In fact, of the 22 species of animals they only had one in 1990; there were 14 cases where none were retained, and six other species of which they had pairs, in 2007 only had one specimen.
The audit found that it was the General Directorate of Concessions (DGCon) that "did not assume control of the sanitary status of the specimens according to the concession agreement." At the same time, it noted that this function "is exercised by the concessionaire at its discretion."
Meanwhile, from the book of autopsies and the low inventory recorded by the concessionaire, it was detected for the first quarter of 2008, 25% of animals listed as casualties were not recorded in the book of autopsies.
Finally, the report of the City Audit, based on data from 1990-2008 and approved last year, states that the Concessions Directorate authorizations issued on the exchange of animals, but limited its review to the legal aspect, "risking authorize exchanges unfavorable for animals involved and for the collection” of the zoo.