Response to interpellation 2022/23:177 on animal welfare in zoos
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns animal welfare and safety in Swedish zoos. KD argues that Sweden has strong animal protection legislation and that the authorities' work is reliable 1 2 3. KD emphasizes that zoos have an important role for education and that they are open to adjusting rules if necessary 2 4. MP argues that the legislation needs to be updated as inspections vary in quality and that many zoos do not meet the minimum requirements 5. MP also wants zoos to prioritize the conservation of nationally endangered species and develop into rehabilitation centers. MP criticizes the culling of healthy animals and demands increased supervision 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Rebecka Le Moine has asked me what I intend to do to ensure that animal welfare is strengthened in the Swedish zoos.
I want to begin by underlining that Sweden has a strong animal welfare legislation that covers all animals kept by humans and which aims to ensure good animal protection and promote good animal welfare and respect for animals.
When it comes to zoos and other facilities that display animals publicly, there are detailed rules. All zoos must be approved by the County Administrative Board before they are put into use. The regulations in the area of animal welfare include, among other things, requirements aimed at ensuring that spaces and interiors meet the animals' needs and that the staff have the correct training. If the facility has animals of wild species, a separate permit from the County Administrative Board is required for this. The County Administrative Boards are responsible for ensuring that animal welfare legislation is followed and carry out regular inspections of all zoos in Sweden.
It is unfortunate when events occur that can pose a danger to both people and animals, but I feel secure with the authorities' work in this area. I will, of course, continue to follow the issues closely.
Rebecka Le Moine (MP)
Mr. Speaker! At the end of last year, four chimpanzees were shot after they had escaped from their enclosure. The sad incident brought up many questions. How is it that so many animals have escaped in such a short time? And why is it that one does not succeed in solving the situation in a better way?
According to the law, all zoos must be escape-proof, but if it were to happen anyway, there must be good routines in place. In Denmark, there is stricter and more detailed legislation in this area, with precisely clear rules for how animals that escape should be handled, as well as high requirements that there must be routines for these situations.
In the Committee on Environment and Agriculture, we had a hearing this week on the specific theme of animal welfare in zoos. It emerged, among other things, that the time interval between inspections varies and can be up to ten years. Furthermore, the competence varies between different county administrative boards. This is a major problem because one must be able to ensure that the inspections maintain the same quality and level.
The standard of Swedish zoos varies enormously. They have different areas and different conditions; some hardly even offer what is required according to the minimum levels in the regulations, while others renovate animal facilities and want to offer the animals a better standard. There are incredibly many different species kept in zoos around the country, with different preferences and needs. Some of these animals are not at all adapted to our northern climate, and that means they spend significant parts of the year or the entire year in indoor facilities.
When the researchers at SLU looked at animal welfare inspections from zoos between 2010 and 2014, they could find evidence that there are deficiencies that the county administrative boards find to a large extent. Peter Kullgren says that he feels secure, but according to this study, 14 percent of the zoos do not meet the requirements for the care of hooves, claws, and fur. 9 percent of the zoos had remarks regarding the animals' coat. At the zoos, the group housing of the animals was assessed, and here there were remarks in 17 percent of the cases. Closer to one-third of the zoos met neither the space requirements nor the requirements for enrichment.
It may also be worth mentioning that the absence of stereotypical visible behaviors is not the same as high animal welfare. An animal that does not exhibit a stereotypical behavior can, despite this, suffer during periods and also be stressed.
To guarantee good animal welfare, a common high minimum level is required.
Modern zoos have supervision and work with environmental enrichment for their animals, but not infrequently the facilities are old, and furthermore, many species spend a significant part of the day in non-public enclosures - that is, stables and night quarters - when the staff have gone home for the day. For large cats, this means a small area indoors where they are under-stimulated during the time when the animal is actually most active.
It is clear that the county administrative boards do not have enough time to carry out the work of visiting livestock owners and demanding improvements in the way they wish. We believe that the animal parks need to be reviewed and that we need to update our legislation and task the county administrative boards with mapping existing animal parks from a safety and animal welfare perspective.
My question to the Minister for Rural Affairs is: How are you going to tackle the problems regarding space requirements and maintenance deficiencies that exist at animal parks in Sweden?
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! As the interpellor mentions, there has recently been great attention surrounding animal parks, not least regarding what has happened in Furuvik. It is understandable, and this type of incident touches and engages many people, including myself.
I cannot comment on individual incidents, but it is obviously regrettable, and it is important to find out the causes when such situations arise so that one can prevent something similar from happening again. But we have strong animal welfare legislation in Sweden. The current Animal Welfare Act was revised and decided by the Riksdag as recently as 2018. It covers all animals that humans have in their care, including animals in zoos, and it is intended to ensure good animal welfare and promote good animal welfare and respect for animals.
Despite these incidents, I believe that we have a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework. I feel confident that facilities that comply with the legislation also maintain a high level of animal welfare. Inspections show, as has been mentioned, that there are deficiencies, just as in very many operations that the state, municipalities, regions, and county administrative boards inspect. It is also important that those inspections lead to actions and that we have functioning control systems.
I want to link to the last question. It is obviously important to be open to making adjustments if necessary. I know that the Swedish Board of Agriculture plans to review the current detailed regulations regarding animal keeping in zoos during the coming years. It will show whether the authority identifies areas or provisions that need updating in one way or another.
Rebecka Le Moine (MP)
Madam Speaker! There has been a great outcry and debate following these incidents. A debate concerns the very right of existence for zoos.
The zoos claim to play an important role regarding education and biodiversity by preserving species. This is a subject that I am very passionate about. But one can still scrutinize this argument by questioning why we have, for example, bears in zoos – Swedish bears that could contribute to strengthening the wild population, but which, when the cubs have grown larger and are no longer as cute and do not attract as much, are culled instead of contributing to the wild population. This is something I think we really need to review. How can the zoos contribute to a greater extent to also protect and strengthen the wild but endangered populations that exist in Sweden?
Having wild animals in zoos or engaging in coordinated breeding programs is not automatically conservation work.
It has become normalized to have elephants, dolphins, and chimpanzees in zoos, but that does not mean it is normal or necessary.
The Zoo Directive, which governs our implementation of the zoos, clearly states that zoos shall work towards preserving biodiversity. Therefore, I believe that endangered animal species that can also achieve a good living status in Swedish zoos, that is, those that have the same climate as we do, are also those that should be prioritized.
The directive needs to be implemented more clearly in Sweden, and we can go further than that and also ensure that modern zoos also contribute to the conservation of nationally endangered species, where possible. This could involve birds, amphibians, insects, and so on. For example, Nordens Ark works actively in these issues.
I mean that the zoos, if they are to remain, must be developed and modernized. If it were truly the case that one puts the animals' welfare and the conservation of species at the center, these zoos in the future should constitute some type of rehabilitation center for wild, injured animals in our nature—not that one has tigers and other large cats that will nevertheless never get to go out into the wild or even contribute to it. If these animals are also endangered in their wild state, the zoos could allow them to reproduce and then release them, and in that way contribute to stronger wild populations. But then the government would need to clarify this in its regulatory letters to the relevant authorities, both Jordbruksverket and Naturvårdsverket.
My question is: Is Peter Kullgren willing to take measures to truly strengthen the role of zoos in the conservation of Swedish endangered species at home?
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! Just as I stated at the end of my previous contribution regarding the animal welfare aspects and so on, the Swedish Board of Agriculture has announced that they will conduct a review.
The committee members come with many ideas and thoughts. Some of them can certainly be good, but it is not something that I can go in and comment on in detail here and now, but we will have to come back to that. But I can reveal that I thought some of the thoughts were interesting.
I believe that we fundamentally have slightly different views on the purpose of or the attitude towards zoos. I believe that these can have an important task, not least for children and young people who have a great interest in animals and who want to learn more and be able to see animals that they would otherwise never have the opportunity to see. It can awaken an interest and a desire to devote themselves to professions or life choices that are important for our society and, not least, for animals in the future. It is an important part that the zoos contribute with.
My basic attitude here as well is that one wants to do the right thing and do it as well as possible, regardless of whether one is a farmer and keeps animals or if one runs a petting zoo and keeps animals.
Again: When accidents occur and situations arise that can be a danger to both people and animals, it is extremely important that they are investigated thoroughly and that the regulatory framework is reviewed if it should prove necessary.
Rebecka Le Moine (MP)
Madam Speaker! Part of the activities of zoos involve breeding, and it happens that it is necessary to euthanize healthy animals, for example because their genetic makeup is not correct or simply because there is no space.
In 2012 and 2013, the bear cubs Merlin, Medusa, and Morpheus were put to death at Skansen when there was no room for them. That is one example. They had served their purpose as cute cubs for the visitors to look at. But not all are remembered by name. According to Dagens Nyheter, a total of 737 animals have been euthanized during the last three years, only at the three largest zoos. Some of these animals were certainly sick, but animal cubs are also euthanized. Their lifespan is based on how long they can be considered cute enough.
I think this stands in great contrast to the idea of conservation, which the zoos should rest upon and work for. It is about endangered animals that are shot to death even if they are healthy and their genetic makeup is not always of poor quality.
We have also received reports from Skansen that animals are euthanized at regular intervals because they can only manage for a year before they become mentally broken. Here I mean that we need to review the legislation.
This may go slightly outside my basic interpellation question, but I think we have returned several times during this debate to the fact that Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren feels secure with the laws and regulations that exist. I can also do that on paper, but what does the Minister for Rural Affairs mean that we need to do to increase the oversight and the quality of the controls that are carried out?
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! All animals that humans have in their care shall be treated with respect, and good animal welfare shall be ensured. This applies to the highest degree to the animals that we keep for public display.
When unforeseen events occur that can pose a danger, not only for the animals but also for employees, visitors and the general public, it is obviously most unfortunate. It is important to investigate the causes and how it can be prevented for something similar to happen again. That is also what is currently underway, and I will follow the issue further.
I want to emphasize once again that we have strong animal welfare legislation in Sweden. Zoos and similar facilities are subject to inspections and extensive detailed regulation, and I have confidence in the work of our authorities.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.