Aslan Park

@Kifaru Bwana Do you remmember that escape of two tigers and a lion in Biopark Štít here in Czechia that happened few weeks ago? Those animals were waiting there for transport to Aslan Park. And because the whole escape and catching story found its way into local press, here are some details about those transports.

In August 2018, Biopark Štít sent two tigers to Aslan Park, those animals were sourced from France.

Two tigers and three lions went from Biopark Štít to Aslan Park at the beginning of September, all of them also rather old.

Two leopards were waiting for transport to Aslan Park at the time this article was issued in September, origin was also France.

All animals were ex-circus and over 10 years old, from France and Germany.

I have no idea what are future plans in Aslan Park and I hope they wont breed (or at least only very few cubs). But at long as their enclosures are of acceptable quality, I dont see a problem in it. They provide home to ex-circus animals from western Europe and export-imports so far are fully legal. As more EU countries prepaire a ban on wild animals in travelling circuses, this place might soon get offered more animals than it ever needed.
 
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Jana said:
Please post also a short review here!
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Sure.

I see your hopes and concerns posted in 2018 and I am sorry to tell you that this park has done anything but the right thing.

The animals are kept in narrow enclosures with cobblestone tiles, small climbing platforms with iron frames, and a lack of shelter and vegetation. Technically there is dirt in the enclosure but it is basically placed in the middle of log beams which seems to function as some sort of flower pot. The tigers had ponds with murky green water. The animals receive no enrichment other than the low effort tires on strings. There is a cub petting corner in the park which was closed at the time but there was a separate area which there were two lions cubs were displayed in separate enclosures which were located in an area that consisted of signs of the zoo greenwashing itself as a “living gene center”.

This place keeps 22 individual animals of 7 species. Here are the numbers in detail:

12 Lions (with 6 of them being white and two of the tawny animals being cubs)

3 Tigers

2 Leopards (one of them black)

2 Servals

1 Eurasian Lynx

1 Caracal

1 Puma

I did pass by posters announcing the opening of this dump back at 2017 and needless to say I am not surprised about how bad it is, especially considering that it is located between an amusement park and an outlet mall which owns the zoo.
 
Thanks for that post. I went through your pics in galery too and their enclosures are a bit bigger than what I have initially expected, so far so good. Equipment doesnt look generous, especially missing are any vertical wooden poles for cratching, but at least they have those platforms. If somebody with knowledge and passion would get it in hand, they could make those enclosures for them much better, with pretty limited investment. Still, they have better life than previously in normal circus cages. I´m maybe more irked how barren are spaces for the small cats, with grass, bushes and more climbing opportunities and boxes, it could be so much better.

But what makes me sad is existence of lion cub petting. This used to be problem at small private Czech zoos too but got prohibited few years ago. If you take cubs from mother soon after birth, they can produce several litters (even 4) per year. I don´t want to know how many they already got, used and sold to some even shaddier place.

Big mistake the Czech middleman (private zoo) didn´t arrange their sterilisations before export. It was legal export, but not really ethical. I will share your info with local institutions, especially those that allow export licences.
 
Jana said:
Thanks for that post. I went through your pics in galery too and their enclosures are a bit bigger than what I have initially expected, so far so good. Equipment doesnt look generous, especially missing are any vertical wooden poles for cratching, but at least they have those platforms. If somebody with knowledge and passion would get it in hand, they could make those enclosures for them much better, with pretty limited investment. Still, they have better life than previously in normal circus cages. I´m maybe more irked how barren are spaces for the small cats, with grass, bushes and more climbing opportunities and boxes, it could be so much better.

But what makes me sad is existence of lion cub petting. This used to be problem at small private Czech zoos too but got prohibited few years ago. If you take cubs from mother soon after birth, they can produce several litters (even 4) per year. I don´t want to know how many they already got, used and sold to some even shaddier place.

Big mistake the Czech middleman (private zoo) didn´t arrange their sterilisations before export. It was legal export, but not really ethical. I will share your info with local institutions, especially those that allow export licences.
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I am not the person who expects every zoo to keep their animals in the largest landscapes but even if these enclosures are larger than expected they are rather small and ugly. And sure the cats aren’t spending their days in trailers and small cages while performing tricks in a loud tent anymore but is it really any better when they are literally right next to roller coasters and a radio that is playing pop music with large speakers? I don’t think adding natural features could help the animals in such a situation either.

For the cubs I wouldn’t be surprised if they do end up in the shadier place. There is an instagram account of some shady big cat trader, which I mentioned on the Istanbul Bird Paradise thread, that does feature this place. So I would not be surprised if the park partakes in the circulation of big cats in the illegal trade.
 
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