Updated
5:48 am, Monday, August 5, 2013
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican
officials say they plan to close both of the country's public zoos next year so
that animals can be freed from their cages. But the foundation that runs the
animal parks said Saturday it is trying to keep them operating.
Environment Minister Rene Castro
announced in recent days that the 97-year-old Simon Bolivar zoo in central San
Jose will become a botanical park next year. Another zoo west of the city, the Santa Ana
Conservation Center, also would close. Together they hold 400
animals of 60 species, including a lion, crocodiles, monkeys and a tapir.
The Environment
Ministry said the animals would be released into the wild or sent to
rescue centers.
The foundation that runs the zoos, known as
Fundazoo, has asked an administrative tribunal to block the closure, foundation
spokesman Eduardo Bolanos
said Saturday. It argues that its contract to run the zoos has been renewed
through 2024.
"We're worried about where the ministry
is thinking of moving the animals since the Simon Bolivar and the Conservation
Center are the only ones that have a veterinarian specialized in forest species
and an animal nutritionist," Bolanos said.
Costa Rica banned circuses with animals in
2002 and has also barred sport hunting.
