Zootopia

It’s a Saturday morning, and excitable children, sullen teenagers and stressed parents are streaming through the gates of Barcelona Zoo. So begins a typical day at one of the city’s oldest public institutions. For 125 years, the zoo has been a fundamental establishment in Barcelona for tourists and locals alike, evolving from a small, private collection into a modern zoo with more than 2,000 animals. Yet as global attitudes towards zoos change, and animal rights activists pile on the pressure, Barcelona Zoo is once again being forced to evolve with the times.

The zoo traces its roots back to 1892, when the wealthy entrepreneur Lluís Martí-Codolar offered his assortment of exotic animals to the Ajuntament. It was decided that the collection, which included among other animals a zebra, a giraffe and even an elephant, would be housed in Parc de la Ciutadella, the former citadel that had been redesigned as a park. Barcelona Zoo was opened to the public that same year for la Mercè. It wasn’t until 1927, however, that the zoo began to charge admission—the funds raised from the 25-cent entrance fee surpassed expectations and the zoo was able to gradually expand its collection and improve facilities. This growth was halted and reversed as Spain was plunged into civil war in 1936. Massive food shortages meant that many of the zoo’s animals starved, while airstrikes carried out by Nationalist forces killed more still. By the end of the Civil War, only 300 animals remained. This undoubtedly marked the lowest point in the zoo’s extensive history, and it wasn’t until the Fifties, under the leadership of Antoni Jonch i Cuspinera, that it began to recover.

Today, Barcelona Zoo is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, drawing in more than a million visitors in 2015, according to a study carried out by Barcelona Turisme. But while tourists and locals of all ages continue to flood in, the position of zoos in society has become the subject of intense debate around the world. “We are in a crisis period of sorts—people are beginning to question whether zoos should exist at all,” explained Rafael Cebrian López, coordinator of Barcelona Zoo’s research and conservation programmes. Indeed, just a quick Google search of the words ‘anti’ and ‘zoo’ pulls up millions of results and a score of articles by animal rights activist groups such as PETA, damning the cramped and inhumane conditions of zoos worldwide.

One such animal rights activist group is based right here in Barcelona. Zoo XXI is an extensive organisation, made up of 35 subgroups, all working towards the same goal—to create zoos fit for the 21st century by calling on all zoos to restructure their habitats in order to become more ethical. The group began nine years ago with a campaign aiming to free Susi, an elephant at Barcelona Zoo. Susi was suffering from depression after her companion died, leaving her all alone in an enclosure. “In our minds, the zoo reacted selfishly to Susi’s plight,” said Leonardo Anselmi, the director of southern Europe and Latin America for the Fondation Franz Weber, a foundation campaigning for animal rights that has been heavily involved in Zoo XXI’s efforts. “Rather than sending her to a sanctuary where she could live out her days in relative freedom, the zoo instead acquired more elephants and crammed them into the same space,” continued Anselmi. Frustrated and disillusioned, Zoo XXI began to draft a proposal for the changes that it wanted to see at Barcelona Zoo. Its proposal marks the first iniciativa ciudadana (civic initiative) in Barcelona, with 14,000 signatures needed from the residents of Barcelona for the Ajuntament to consider it.   

To create its plan of action, the team behind Zoo XXI first carried out a comprehensive study of 93 zoos that had shut in the past 40 years. “We discovered that closing the zoos was the worst scenario for the animals,” explained Anselmi. According to the study, some of these animals were simply relocated to other zoos, some were sent to circuses, and the unluckiest were acquired by exotic restaurants. Zoo XXI’s proposal therefore is not to close down Barcelona Zoo, but to drastically improve conditions. “We believe that currently, zoos are largely commercial, exhibitionist and colonialist,” said Anselmi. “Instead of exploiting animals and their natural habitats, we want zoos to be at the service of them.”

But what does this improvement of conditions entail? Rather than simply enlarging enclosures, which they believe would be expanding on a flawed system, Zoo XXI wants enclosures to be adapted towards each animal’s needs, providing privacy from the constant stream of spectators. “At the moment, the enclosures in the zoo are geared towards humans, with no place for the animals to hide,” said Anselmi. Ultimately, it’s about creating a culture of respect for the animals and their habitats. This culture of respect would also see an end to novelties like the zoo train as well as concerts and weddings held on zoo grounds.

Another study carried out by Zoo XXI, found that in 2013 54.48 percent of the animals in Barcelona Zoo were not endangered. The group’s end goal is for the zoo to house solely endangered species, particularly local ones, as part of conservation programmes. Zoo XXI also proposes a move away from ex-situ conservation (protecting endangered species outside of their natural habitat), in favour of in-situ conservation (conservation carried out in natural habitats), so as to avoid difficulties in reintroducing species back into their natural habitats. The group wants to see the reproduction of animals inside the zoo halted to avoid animals living in captivity when it isn’t necessary. And they also strongly opposed the practice of culling animals. Whenever possible, Zoo XXI would see animals captive in Barcelona Zoo sent to sanctuaries where they could have greater freedom, and interactive, virtual reality exhibits take the place of enclosures, allowing visitors to experience animals in their proper environments. And in Barcelona, Zoo XXI aims to create a benchmark for other zoos around the world. “We are waging war against the commercial, colonial viewpoint of zoos,” said Anselmi. “Barcelona is just the first battle.”

It is hardly surprising that Rafael Cebrian López sheds a somewhat different light on Barcelona Zoo. “Zoos are vitally important in today’s society as nuclei for preventing animals from extinction,” he argued, citing the tritón del Montseny as an example. This newt, endemic to Catalunya, is only found in the rivers of the Montseny mountain range, north of Barcelona. Only 1,500 of these amphibians existed when they were discovered. “It's our responsibility at Barcelona Zoo to take care of the newts in the seven rivers where they are found, but also to fertilise eggs outside of their natural habitat,” he explained. The zoo receives €300,000 a year from the government for research and conservation, channelling this income into different projects in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, local universities and other zoos. This money is also used for various grants, with 50 percent of the grants given from 2009 to 2016 going towards projects focusing on species endemic to Catalunya.

Yet Cebrian recognises the changes that Barcelona Zoo must make, standing as a testament to his genuine respect for the animals he works with. “We need to dedicate more space to endangered animals as opposed to animals that draw in visitors,” he said. At the end of 2016, the zoo took a step in that direction with the closure of its dolphinarium, which no longer complied with the European Association for Aquatic Animals’ (EEAM) requirements. “That was the right decision,” said Cebrian. “The delfinario was 60 years old, and simply wasn’t adequate.” Unfortunately, dolphins born into captivity cannot be released back into the wild, so the six cetaceans that were living in Barcelona are now being relocated to other establishments with better conditions.

Ultimately however, Cebrian finds the claims by animal rights activist groups—that the zoo is backwards—frustrating. “They are fighting for an increase in conservation, research and education at the zoo, yet these three aspects are already the pillars of its ideology,” he contended. Perhaps he is correct, and the aims of these animal rights activist groups and the zoo itself are not so far removed after all. Certainly, Barcelona Zoo still has some way to go before it can truly declare itself a 21st century zoo and Zoo XXI’s iniciativa ciudadana may be the push it needs to help reach that goal.

MEET THE HERD

Barcelona Zoo is home to around 2,000 animals from more than 300 different species. Get to know some of the most unusual with our fact file.

Pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis)

Risk level: Endangered

At first glance, pygmy hippopotamuses look much like miniature versions of their full-sized counterparts. These herbivorous mammals rarely weigh more than 250 kilogrammes—roughly the same size as a domestic pig and about one-sixth of the weight of a common hippo. Pygmy hippos are far more solitary than other hippos, spending most of their days hidden in rivers before emerging at nightfall to feed. There are thought to be less than 2,000 left in the wild due to human hunting and deforestation, which destroys their natural habitat. Barcelona Zoo is home to two pygmy hippos—a male called Nuru and a female called Kilima.  

Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas osiris)

Risk level: Vulnerable

Adapted to live in one of the driest habitats in the world, the Sahara, this gazelle survives by drawing water from acacia leaves and other plants. Barcelona Zoo is involved in a Europe-wide conservation programme aiming to reintroduce a subspecies of this gazelle, the gazella dorcas neglecta, back into its native Senegal, where it's currently severely endangered because of hunting by nomadic populations in the region. Six of the zoo’s gazelles have already been sent to the Ferlo Nord Wildlife Reserve, a protected area of more than 6,000 square kilometres in Senegal.  

Red panda (Ailurus fulgens)

Risk level: Endangered

Native to the bamboo forests of the Himalayas, northern Myanmar and southern China, these tree-dwelling mammals, known in China as ‘fire foxes’, have proven somewhat of an enigma for taxonomists. Originally thought to be members of the panda family (as their name suggests), red pandas were recently reclassified in a family of their own—the Ailuridae. In the wild, red pandas hide from predators like leopards by climbing trees and camouflaging themselves against red lichen and mosses. Nepalie and her daughter Tibet are the zoo’s two resident red pandas.