The mayor of Limassol, Yiannis Armeftis, confirmed on Thursday 6 February that the city's zoo could soon be closed permanently.
In a meeting with the leader of the Cypriot Animal Protection Party, Kyriakos Kyriakou, he said that resolving the issue was important to him both personally and politically. In response, campaigners have proposed the implementation of the e-coZoo project, an innovative concept for a zoo without cages. In March, the city council is expected to discuss the idea and decide whether it can go ahead.
According to animal rights activists, the new space will act as an educational centre where visitors can learn about the importance of protecting animals and the environment. The park will also be able to host a range of events to attract local residents and visitors. These include: feeding animals, walking tours, donkey rides, egg collecting and milking cows, etc.
It should be remembered that the zoo has been criticised in recent years for animal safety issues. In late 2022 and early 2023, activists organised protests calling for the zoo to be closed.
As it turned out, the last straw that broke the animal rights activists' patience was the death of a baby deer at the zoo. The animal got its horns caught in the fence. The zookeepers were not there at the time. The fawn was discovered a few hours later, but it was too late. The municipality, in cooperation with the Cyprus Centre for Environmental Research and Education (CYCERE), decided to find a solution to the problem. In response to the incident, the former mayor of Limassol, Nicos Nicolaidis, stressed the need to reconsider the future of the zoo, and one of the proposals was its complete closure.
It should be noted that the Limassol Zoo was opened in 1956. The first animal in the zoo was a small monkey brought by a resident of the city. At different times, the zoo was home to elephants, lions and bears. It was modernised in 2012, when it was decided to abandon the iron cages and replace them with enclosures made of natural stone, wood and glass. All the money came from private investors. In December 2021, the zoo will open an aquarium.