CApe TOWN - The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) has spoken out against the SANParks for holding fish “captive” in a glass tank at an aquarium in the Kruger National Park.
The animal welfare organisation said they’ve been given the run-around for answers as to why there are fish in a glass tank at the park, which was “meant to allow animals to roam freely in their natural habitat”.
The NSPCA said they first received a complaint in December last year regarding the tank exhibiting Tilapia and other fish at the entrance of the Skukuza Indigenous Nursery.
But SANParks said it was their view that there was no health welfare issue associated with keeping a small number of fish in the aquarium for “conservation education”.
The NSPCA said they formally wrote to multiple members of senior and executive management of the park.
“The NSPCA was disappointed in the response we received, which outlined the Kruger’s determination to keep the fish in captivity.
“In fact, their response went so far as to banish our suggestion of freeing the fish by saying, ‘If the pond is too shallow, the fish will be eaten by predators. If the pond is too deep, then the public will be unable to see the fish through the water’.
“It is also worth noting that these fish were taken from the very same pond that the park is refusing to release the fish back into,” they said.
SANParks said they reached out to the NSPCA on several occasions, however the correspondence was never “responded to or acknowledged”.
“The organisation has offered to meet with the NSPCA to fully understand their concerns with no luck. They escalated the matter to the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DFFE) which requested a full explanation from SANParks.
“The explanation was duly supplied and no wrongdoing was found. The NSPCA’s concern is not on the welfare but ‘moral’ which is difficult to rule on as it is up to individuals to avoid things they consider morally unacceptable.”
They said they had invited the NSPCA to send independent fishing experts to evaluate the aquarium “and they have not done so but they would rather post their concerns instead of engaging as they know where to find us.”
Cape Times