Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the Strategic Orientation Council of the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB), reacts to the closure of the Marineland park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) and is delighted with the “progress” in the face of evolution of animal captivity conditions.
Published on 05/01/2025 09:01
Reading time: 1min
The Marineland park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) permanently closes its doors on Sunday January 5. The largest marine zoo in Europe reports serious financial difficulties, while attendance has declined significantly in recent years. A law also prohibits cetacean shows from 2026.
Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), welcomes the tightening of the rules for zoos. “I knew in the 70s, where you had Tropica Nimes which imported gibbons and cheetahs, which they sold to anyone and which died in terrible conditions”he remembers today, “the animals no longer belong to the zoo, there are only conservation programs”. “There has been a very significant change in the animal condition in captivity”with “quite remarkable progress”he concedes.
He still hopes for further progress. He cites, for example, the Civil Code, which recognized in 2015, “the sensitivity of the domestic animal, but not of the wild animal”. Another fight, “circuses” which he considers to be a “priority”. “It is scandalous to lug animals on a few square meters of sawdust from one city to another, exhibited to the public, in conditions which are not the minimum conditions”he is indignant.
